keenness

/ˈkinəs/

Keenness is a state of being eager. Your keenness to answer your teacher's question may cause you to jump out of your seat a little as you raise your hand.

Keenness is a kind of enthusiasm, like a group of fans' keenness to meet their favorite movie star. The word can also be used literally or figuratively to mean "sharpness," as in the keenness of that knife you're using to slice a tomato, or the keenness of a brilliant mathematician's mind. Keenness comes from keen, which originally meant both "wise" and "brave," from the Old English cene, "bold or brave."

Definitions of keenness

1. noun

   thinness of edge or fineness of point
   synonyms: sharpness

   types:

   acuteness

   the quality of having a sharp edge or point

   type of:

   configuration, conformation, contour, form, shape

   any spatial attributes (especially as defined by outline)
2. noun

   a quick and penetrating intelligence
   “I admired the keenness of his mind”

   synonyms: acuity, acuteness, sharpness

   types:

   steel trap

   an acute intelligence (an analogy based on the well-known sharpness of steel traps)

   type of:

   intelligence

   the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience
3. noun

   a positive feeling of wanting to push ahead with something
   synonyms: avidity, avidness, eagerness

   types:

   ardor, ardour, elan, zeal

   a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause)

   type of:

   enthusiasm

   a feeling of excitement