Definitions for keen
kinkeen

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. keenadjective

   a funeral lament sung with loud wailing

2. acute, discriminating, incisive, keen, knifelike, penetrating, penetrative, piercing, sharpadjective

   having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions

   "an acute observer of politics and politicians"; "incisive comments"; "icy knifelike reasoning"; "as sharp and incisive as the stroke of a fang"; "penetrating insight"; "frequent penetrative observations"

3. exquisite, keenadjective

   intense or sharp

   "suffered exquisite pain"; "felt exquisite pleasure"

4. bang-up, bully, corking, cracking, dandy, great, groovy, keen, neat, nifty, not bad(p), peachy, slap-up, swell, smashingadjective

   very good

   "he did a bully job"; "a neat sports car"; "had a great time at the party"; "you look simply smashing"

5. cutting, keen, knifelike, piercing, stabbing, lancinate, lancinatingadjective

   painful as if caused by a sharp instrument

   "a cutting wind"; "keen winds"; "knifelike cold"; "piercing knifelike pains"; "piercing cold"; "piercing criticism"; "a stabbing pain"; "lancinating pain"

6. keenverb

   having a sharp cutting edge or point

   "a keen blade"

7. lament, keenverb

   express grief verbally

   "we lamented the death of the child"

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Keenadjective

   Etymology: cene, Saxon; kuhn, German; koen, Dutch.

   1. Sharp; well edged; not blunt.

   Come thick night
   That my keen knife see not the wound it makes. William Shakespeare.

   Here is my keen-edged sword,
   Deck’d with fine flower-de-luces on each side. William Shakespeare.

   To me the cries of fighting fields are charms,
   Keen be my sabre, and of proof my arms. Dryden.

   A sword keen-edg’d within his right he held,
   The warlike emblem of the conquer’d field. Dryden.

   2. Severe; piercing.

   The winds
   Blow moist, and keen, shattering the graceful locks
   Of these fair spreading trees; which bids us seek
   Some better shroud. John Milton, Par. Lost, b. x.

   The cold was very supportable; but as it changed to the north-west, or north, it became excessively keen. Henry Ellis.

   3. Eager; vehement.

   Never did I know
   A creature, that did bear the shape of man,
   So keen and greedy to confound a man. William Shakespeare.

   Keen dispatch of real hunger. John Milton.

   The sheep were so keen upon the acrons, that they gobbled up a piece of the coat. Roger L'Estrange.

   Those curs are so extremely hungry, that they are too keen at the sport, and worry their game. Tatler, №. 62.

   This was a prospect so very inviting, that it could not be easily withstood by any who have so keen an appetite for wealth. Jonathan Swift, Miscel.

   4. Acrimonious; bitter of mind.

   Good father cardinal, cry thou, amen,
   To my keen curses. William Shakespeare, King John.

   I have known some of these absent officers as keen against Ireland, as if they had never been indebted to her. Jonathan Swift.

2. To Keenverb

   To sharpen. An unauthorised word.

   Etymology: from the adjective.

   Nor when cold Winter keens the brightening flood,
   Wou’d I weak shivering linger on the brink. James Thomson.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. keen

   Keen is an adjective that generally means having or showing a sharp/strong interest, enthusiasm, or intensity. It can also refer to having a sharp edge or point or a highly developed sense, such as a keen intelligence or a keen sense of smell.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Keen

   sharp; having a fine edge or point; as, a keen razor, or a razor with a keen edge

2. Keen

   acute of mind; sharp; penetrating; having or expressing mental acuteness; as, a man of keen understanding; a keen look; keen features

3. Keen

   bitter; piercing; acrimonious; cutting; stinging; severe; as, keen satire or sarcasm

4. Keen

   piercing; penetrating; cutting; sharp; -- applied to cold, wind, etc, ; as, a keen wind; the cold is very keen

5. Keen

   eager; vehement; fierce; as, a keen appetite

6. Keenverb

   to sharpen; to make cold

7. Keennoun

   a prolonged wail for a deceased person. Cf. Coranach

8. Keenverb

   to wail as a keener does

9. Etymology: [Ir. caoine.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Keen

   kēn, adj. eager: sharp, having a fine edge: piercing: acute of mind: penetrating: intense.—adv. Keen′ly.—n. Keen′ness. [A.S. céne; Ger. kühn, bold; Ice. kænn, wise. Cog. with ken and can.]

2. Keen

   kēn, n. a lamentation over the dead.—v.i. to wail over the dead.—n. Keen′er, a professional mourner. [Ir. caoine.]

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. keen

   Sharp; having a fine cutting edge; as, a keen blade.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. keen

   Song lyrics by keen -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by keen on the Lyrics.com website.

2. KEEN

   What does KEEN stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the KEEN acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. KEEN

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Keen is ranked #1959 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Keen surname appeared 18,459 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 would have the surname Keen.
   
   89.6% or 16,547 total occurrences were White.
   4.7% or 868 total occurrences were Black.
   2.1% or 401 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.6% or 306 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   1.2% or 222 total occurrences were Asian.
   0.6% or 116 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Express Emotion

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'keen' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2940

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'keen' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1852

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'keen' in Adjectives Frequency: #355

Anagrams for keen »

1. knee

How to pronounce keen?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say keen in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of keen in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of keen in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of keen in a Sentence

1. Les Ansley:

   The initial reaction of most people is, What? Theres no way. But most people are very keen to actually taste it.

2. An Indian defence ministry official:

   They are very keen to set up shop here.

3. Paul Hames:

   There are three things needed to be a great photographer. In this order. You and your keen eye, a great lens and a camera to make the shot.

4. Steve Brusatte:

   The ancestors of T. rex would have looked a whole lot like Timurlengia, a horse-sized hunter with a big brain and keen hearing that would put us to shame, only after these ancestral tyrannosaurs evolved their clever brains and sharp senses did they grow into the colossal sizes of T. rex. Tyrannosaurs had to get smart before they got big.

5. Anjali Raut:

   Even though I attended many of the fashion shows where Alesia was in, I never thought I’d be up there. I wasn’t keen on it, but my mom was. She signed me up for the Miss Mumbai pageant and winning third place just got the ball rolling.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=keen
2. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=keen
3. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
4. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keen
5. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=keen
6. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html
7. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html