Astuteness is the quality of reading a situation, or a person, very well and very quickly — and, though actually, there is often a sharp little edge to it. It is not only “being clever.” A clever student knows the answer. A person with astuteness sees what other people want, where the danger is, and how to come out ahead, sometimes before anyone has said a word. People use it with a kind of respect, but not always with warmth. You can praise a businesswoman’s astuteness and still not quite trust her. It turns up in talk about money, politics, and deals more than in talk about kindness. The word itself is a little formal. In ordinary speech people more often say “she is astute” than “her astuteness.” Older writing likes the noun; younger people still know it, but they do not reach for it every day.

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