Each week, Verywell explains a term from health, medicine, science, or technology.
Acute
How to say it:Acute(ah-KEWT)
What it means: Coming on suddenly or severely.
Where it comes from: From Latin,acūtus, a sharpened point; a violent onset.
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Where you might see or hear it: Many health conditions can be described as being acute, meaning that they last a short time (compared toa chronic condition, which lasts a long time).
Acute vs. Subacute Pain
SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Merriam-Webster.Definition of acute.
Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Merriam-Webster.Definition of acute.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Merriam-Webster.Definition of acute.
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