ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by Smarties,

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the Ritalin of tablet-shaped candies.

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Which of these words is closest in meaning to astute?

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And here are the potential answers.

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And we did not say ass toot.

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All right, you ready? All right.

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Now the word "astute" means

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clever or observant,

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like someone who notices the small things.

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So, right of the bat, let's eliminate D -

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oblivious, which means not paying attention at all.

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Hey, over here. Come on.

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All right, take a look at B -

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stuffy, which can mean poorly ventilated,

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like a classroom after taking the ASVAB for three hours.

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Stuffy can also mean

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boring, like a classroom after taking the ASVAB for three hours.

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So scratch that off the list, as well.

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And then there's C - stern,

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which means strict or harsh.

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Now someone who harps on the small things might be

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described as stern, like your Great Aunt Linda

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when she insists on wiping the invisible smudge off your face

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all the time. We've been there.

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But this one doesn't seem right, either.

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So we're left with A - discerning.

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If we break this word apart, we see the prefix "dis,"

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which can mean "away from," and the root "cern,"

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which comes from the Latin word

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"cernere," meaning "to separate."

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So "discerning" means

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being able to recognize a difference in something.

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Sounds pretty similar to astute.

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And, yep, the correct answer is A - discerning,

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which can also mean showing good judgment

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and understanding, like knowing how many cookies

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is just too many cookies.

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[ groan ]

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