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Definition of perceptive adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

perceptive

adjective
 
/pəˈseptɪv/
 
/pərˈseptɪv/
Word Family
  • perceive verb
  • perception noun
  • perceptive adjective
  • perceptible adjective (≠ imperceptible)
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  1. (approving) having or showing the ability to see or understand things quickly, especially things that are not obvious
    • a highly perceptive comment
    • It was very perceptive of you to notice that.
    • The article gives a perceptive analysis of the way bureaucracies work.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    preposition
    • about
    See full entry
  2. (specialist or formal) connected with seeing, hearing and understanding
    • our innate perceptive abilities
  3. Word Originmid 17th cent.: from medieval Latin perceptivus, from percept- ‘received, understood’, from the verb percipere ‘seize, understand’, from per- ‘entirely’ + capere ‘take’.
See perceptive in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee perceptive in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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