Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SHARP'NESS, n.

1. Keenness of an edge or point; as, the sharpness of a razor or a dart.
2. Not obtuseness. – Wotton.
3. Pungency; acidity; as, the sharpness of vinegar. – Watts.
4. Pungency of pain; keenness; severity of pain or affliction; as, the sharpness of pain, grief or anguish.
5. Painfulness; afflictiveness; as, the sharpness of death or calamity. And the best quarrels in the heat are curst / By those that feel their sharpness. – Shak.
6. Severity of language; pungency; satirical sarcasm; as, the sharpness of satire or rebuke. Some did all folly with just sharpness blame. – Dryden.
7. Acuteness of intellect; the power of nice discernment; quickness of understanding; ingenuity; as, sharpness of wit or understanding. – Dryden. Addison.
8. Quickness of sense or perception; as, the sharpness of sight.
9. Keenness; severity; as, the sharpness of the air or weather.