Synonyms of keen

keen 1 of 3

adjective

ˈkēn 

1

as in sensitive

able to sense slight impressions or differences

pilots with especially keen eyesight

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sensitive
• quick
• acute
• sharp
• good
• perceptive
• delicate
• accurate
• fine
• precise
• sensible
• clear
• subtle
• receptive
• discerning
• piercing
• hypersensitive
• supersensitive
• oversensitive
• hyperacute
• hair-trigger

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bad
• dull
• dulled
• fading
• dead
• insensitive
• numb
• insensible
• dimmed
• deadened
• inaccurate
• imprecise
• imperceptive

2

as in biting

causing intense discomfort to one's skin

the keen wind gave me chapped lips

Synonyms & Similar Words

• biting
• sharp
• bitter
• shrewd
• brisk
• penetrating
• stinging
• cutting
• piercing
• raw
• smarting
• snappy
• invigorating
• caustic
• prickly
• nippy
• corrosive
• tingling
• needlelike

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• mild
• gentle
• soothing
• balmy

3

as in sharpened

having an edge thin enough to cut or pierce something

lanced the boil with a keen scalpel

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sharpened
• sharp
• cutting
• edged
• honed
• trenchant
• ground
• whetted
• edgy
• jagged
• stropped
• pointed
• knifelike
• scratching
• piercing
• clawlike
• stabbing
• spiky
• daggerlike
• lacerating
• pointy
• jabbing
• spikey

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• blunt
• dull
• smooth
• rounded
• soft
• dulled
• obtuse
• blunted
• even
• level
• flat
• slick

4

as in quick

having or showing quickness of mind

readers who were keen enough to realize that the writer was being satirical

Synonyms & Similar Words

• quick
• intelligent
• clever
• smart
• fast
• brilliant
• sharp
• exceptional
• bright
• wise
• skilled
• educated
• alert
• nimble
• brainy
• quick-witted
• learned
• cunning
• sensible
• sharp-witted
• informed
• astute
• resourceful
• savvy
• supersmart
• trained
• acute
• knowledgeable
• apt
• schooled
• literate
• ultrasmart
• prudent
• discerning
• creative
• perceptive
• knowing
• sagacious
• insightful
• ingenious
• hyperintelligent
• cerebral
• reasonable
• scholarly
• heady
• logical
• judicious
• perspicacious
• erudite
• inventive
• shrewd
• rational
• sound
• sane
• wily
• genial
• percipient
• crafty
• well-read
• highbrow
• sage
• sapient
• foxy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slow
• simple
• dumb
• stupid
• dim
• dull
• soft
• dense
• thick
• obtuse
• fatuous
• opaque
• mindless
• dopey
• senseless
• brainless
• witless
• doltish
• vacuous
• brain-dead
• thickheaded
• unintelligent
• weak-minded
• dunderheaded
• foolish
• pinheaded
• lamebrained
• boneheaded
• dorky
• softheaded
• lamebrain
• simpleminded
• silly
• dopy
• feebleminded
• gormless
• idiotic
• ignorant
• unbrilliant
• slow-witted
• dim-witted
• moronic
• imbecile
• uninformed
• mad
• unsmart
• uneducated
• chuckleheaded
• bubbleheaded
• empty-headed
• knuckleheaded
• half-witted
• imbecilic
• airheaded
• illiterate
• unwise
• thick-witted
• lunkheaded
• unthinking
• untaught
• birdbrained
• crazy
• insane
• daft
• absurd
• idiotical
• fool
• nutty
• nonintellectual
• unintellectual
• unacademic
• lunatic
• zany
• lowbrow
• loony
• wacky
• preposterous
• whacky
• cuckoo
• dippy
• kooky
• balmy
• nonsensical
• half-baked
• sappy
• harebrained
• dotty
• boobish
• daffy
• asinine
• cockeyed
• looney
• screwball
• crackpot
• featherheaded
• tomfool
• kookie

5

as in excellent

of the very best kind

that new digital camera sure is keen

Synonyms & Similar Words

• excellent
• great
• wonderful
• lovely
• terrific
• superb
• fantastic
• awesome
• fabulous
• beautiful
• marvellous
• stellar
• fine
• prime
• marvelous
• hot
• brave
• famous
• cool
• neat
• good
• quality
• classic
• slick
• cracking
• heavenly
• splendid
• immense
• sensational
• choice
• exceptional
• superior
• divine
• first-rate
• first-class
• superlative
• mean
• top
• top-notch
• gone
• too much
• swell
• unsurpassed
• high-class
• nifty
• noble
• fab
• dandy
• sterling
• decent
• groovy
• peachy
• better
• par excellence
• radical
• frontline
• peachy keen
• topping
• grand
• crackerjack
• boss
• prize
• blue-chip
• top-shelf
• out of this world
• adequate
• bully
• tip-top
• banner
• capital
• brag
• blue-ribbon
• first-string
• righteous
• dope
• number one
• topflight
• special
• down
• fantabulous
• dynamite
• bumper
• bonny
• No. 1
• A1
• wizard
• satisfactory
• supernal
• hype
• prizewinning
• okay
• corking
• bang-up
• primo
• acceptable
• out-of-sight
• bonnie
• gangbusters
• fancy
• gilt-edge
• A-OK
• gangbuster
• jim-dandy
• all right
• boffo
• five-star
• top-of-the-line
• traditional
• phat
• classical
• four-star
• OK
• numero uno
• gilt-edged
• select
• tolerable
• passable
• premium
• high-grade
• standard
• high-test
• superfine

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• poor
• terrible
• awful
• pathetic
• lousy
• rotten
• bad
• wretched
• vile
• atrocious
• unsatisfactory
• inferior
• substandard
• execrable
• low-grade
• mediocre
• middling
• second-class
• second-rate

6

as in excited

showing urgent desire or interest

a keen hunger for fame and fortune in the fashion industry

Synonyms & Similar Words

• excited
• eager
• avid
• enthusiastic
• anxious
• ardent
• interested
• hungry
• desirous
• happy
• impatient
• pumped
• willing
• ready
• enthused
• solicitous
• thirsty
• voracious
• greedy
• great
• stoked
• nuts
• agog
• antsy
• gung ho
• raring
• geeked
• crazy
• juiced
• engaged
• chomping at the bit
• champing at the bit
• wild
• hepped up
• hot
• athirst
• obsessed
• hopped-up
• glad
• longing
• ambitious
• covetous
• inclined
• restless
• pining
• amenable
• hankering
• restive
• craving
• disposed
• breathless
• appetent
• game
• hung up
• unreluctant

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• indifferent
• apathetic
• casual
• uninterested
• unconcerned
• unenthusiastic
• disinterested
• nonchalant
• detached
• reluctant
• aloof
• incurious
• insouciant
• unwilling
• hesitant
• stolid
• impassive
• uneager
• loath
• averse
• lukewarm
• languid
• lackadaisical
• disinclined
• halfhearted
• languorous
• spiritless
• loth
• loathe

7

as in intense

extreme in degree, power, or effect

movies gave him keen enjoyment like nothing else

Synonyms & Similar Words

• intense
• intensive
• fierce
• ferocious
• deep
• furious
• terrible
• heavy
• fearful
• profound
• acute
• hard
• violent
• vehement
• vicious
• exquisite
• explosive
• dreadful
• fearsome
• ghastly
• blistering
• frightful
• excruciating
• intensified
• heavy-duty
• concentrated
• heightened
• almighty
• aggravated
• enhanced
• harsh
• stressed
• thorough
• severe
• hellacious
• emphasized
• exhaustive
• magnified
• deepened
• accentuated
• rigorous

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• moderate
• light
• soft
• weak
• feeble
• shallow
• superficial
• qualified
• eased
• decreased
• moderated
• subdued
• toned (down)
• diminished
• reduced
• lightened
• lessened
• alleviated
• abated

keen

2 of 3

noun

as in wail

a crying out in grief

the loud keens of the widows were heard throughout the war-ravaged city

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wail
• tears
• cry
• groan
• mourning
• lament
• howl
• moan
• lamentation
• weeping
• regret
• suffering
• plaint
• sob
• protest
• outcry
• sorrow
• anguish
• sorrowing
• complaint
• grieving
• grief
• heartbreak
• woe
• hand-wringing
• heartache
• cri de coeur
• agonizing
• dolor

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rejoicing
• smiling
• exultation
• laughing
• cheering

keen

3 of 3

verb

1

as in to complain

to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely

victims of the disaster have been keening for weeks about the slowness of governmental aid

Synonyms & Similar Words

• complain
• scream
• whine
• worry
• moan
• mutter
• kick
• grumble
• growl
• bitch
• nag
• squeal
• inveigh
• beef
• bleat
• squawk
• whinge
• cry
• holler
• kick up a fuss
• whimper
• grouse
• murmur
• gripe
• kvetch
• repine
• wail
• carp
• kick up a stink
• fuss
• bellyache
• yowl
• grizzle
• yammer
• crab
• protest
• grump
• croak
• caterwaul
• grouch
• maunder
• yaup
• quibble
• object (to)
• yawp
• quarrel (with)
• cavil
• fret
• sob
• deplore
• lament
• bemoan
• bewail
• stew
• blubber

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• delight
• rejoice
• take
• accept
• tolerate
• bear
• endure
• commend
• applaud
• cheer
• crow
• countenance

2

as in to howl

to make a long loud mournful sound

mourners keening for the victims of the bombing

Synonyms & Similar Words

• howl
• scream
• yell
• shriek
• wail
• bay
• shrill
• ululate
• squeal
• screech
• yowl
• bawl
• yelp
• squall
• caterwaul
• yaup
• yawp

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective keen contrast with its synonyms?

The words acute and sharp are common synonyms of keen. While all three words mean "having or showing alert competence and clear understanding," keen suggests quickness, enthusiasm, and a penetrating mind.

a keen observer of the political scene

In what contexts can acute take the place of keen?

The meanings of acute and keen largely overlap; however, acute implies a power to penetrate and may suggest subtlety and sharpness of discrimination.

an acute sense of style

When would sharp be a good substitute for keen?

While the synonyms sharp and keen are close in meaning, sharp implies quick perception, clever resourcefulness, or sometimes questionable trickiness.

sharp enough to spot a confidence game

Examples of keen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Afterward, attention naturally turned to the fate of the ball, with collectors keen to own such a unique item. —Patrick Smith, NBC News, 23 Oct. 2024

She is based in Italy and travels frequently around the world, with a keen interest in Asia. —Livia Hengel, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024

Noun

For those keen on camping, this portable, self-inflating tent is designed to be water- and weather-resistant. —Rachel Rothman, Good Housekeeping, 9 Jan. 2023

All three species are, in fact, powerful stimulants, and, as such, have long attracted those keen to enjoy their attributes. —Wade Davis, Rolling Stone, 17 Dec. 2022

Verb

In these wondrously transporting images of juddering waves and swirling particles, accompanied by the rumbling, surging, keening strains of Ludwig Göransson’s magnificent score, Nolan makes a rare leap into realms of pure cinematic abstraction. —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2023

Ayler burst onto the New York scene, in 1963, with a roaring and screeching and keening fervor that left behind conventional forms of rhythm and harmony but added the folk elements of spirituals, marches, and blues—and a realm of spirits and ghosts that inhabit those forms. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 18 July 2023

Phrases Containing keen

• peachy keen