keen

Less common meanings

4. 4
   sharp (blade)adjective

   Having a fine, sharp cutting edge or point.

   The barber stropped the razor until its edge was perfectly keen.

   Only a keen chisel will leave such clean lines in the oak.

   Similarsharp, razor-sharp, honed

   Oppositeblunt, dull

   Note

   It suits razors and knives, as in Macbeth's "keene Knife". Shakespeare also compares mocking tongues to a razor's edge, a figurative use that sits close to the sharp-minded meaning.

5. 5
   biting coldadjective

   Of cold, wind and the like, cutting, piercing and sharply felt.

   A keen northeasterly cut through their coats as they crossed the moor.

   The air turned keen the moment the sun dropped behind the ridge.

   Similarbiting, bitter, piercing, raw, cutting

   Oppositemild, balmy, gentle

6. 6
   funeral crynouncountable

   A prolonged wailing cry of grief for a dead person.

   A single keen broke the silence as the procession reached the graveside.

   The keen of the gathered mourners filled the small cottage.

   Similarwail, lament, cry, howl

7. 7
   lamentverbintransitive

   To wail loudly and at length in grief for a dead person, or to utter such a wailing cry.

   The women would keen at the graveside until their voices gave out.

   She keened softly by the hearth as neighbors filed in to pay respects.

   UsageOften keen for or over the dead person. Not related to keen meaning eager.

   Similarwail, lament, howl

   Note

   Stuart Howard-Jones's comic poem Hibernia plays on the clash with the other keen, pretending to wonder whether the word means quick and lively before admitting that the language twists here. His mock gloss, which pictures rude songs sung to a dead body, is a joke, not a definition.

8. 8
   harsh (words)adjective

   Bitter, cutting, and sharply acrimonious in tone or feeling.

   Her letter carried a keen reproach that he never quite forgot.

   His keen sarcasm at the meeting left several coworkers quietly furious.

   Similarbitter, cutting, biting, acerbic, caustic

9. 9
   greatadjectivedatedUS

   Excellent or wonderful; very good.

   Gee, what a keen car you've got parked out front!

   Well our hosts here attacked us with a fantastic Dismodulating Anti Phase stun ray and then invited us to this amazingly keen meal by way of making it up to us.

   1985, Douglas Adams, The Original Hitchhiker Radio Scripts

   UsageOften in peachy keen, used today for a playful, retro feel.

   Similarswell, neat, nifty, terrific, great

   Note

   Dated American praise, it still turns up in pop culture: Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets" (1973) uses it as high praise for a woman, and Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker radio scripts serve an "amazingly keen meal."

10. 10
    low (prices)adjectiveBritish

    Of prices or rates: set low enough to be strongly competitive.

    The supermarket advertised keen prices to draw shoppers from its rivals.

    Their quote was so keen that the council awarded them the contract.

    UsageSaid of prices, rates and quotes, not the goods themselves: keen prices.

    Similarcompetitive, low, attractive

    Oppositesteep, high, exorbitant

11. 11
    verbraretransitive

    To make something cold, or to give it a fine, sharp edge.

    This is the pureſt exerciſe of health, / The kind refreſher of the ſummer-heats; / Nor, when cold Winter keens the brightening flood, / Would I weak-ſhivering linger on the brink.

    a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”

    Similarsharpen, hone, whet, chill

    Oppositeblunt, dull

    Note

    A poet's verb, and a rare one, it takes an object: in The Seasons, James Thomson writes that "cold Winter keens the brightening flood." Its forms, keens, keened and keening, are spelled exactly like those of the unrelated verb meaning to wail. Context, not spelling, tells sharpening from wailing. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • James Thomson uses the quoted words in “Summer”, part of The Seasons. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation reproduces Thomson's wording. en.wikisource.org
    • Both verbs have the forms keens, keened and keening. en.wiktionary.org
    • The wailing verb has a separate etymology from the sharpening verb. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    adjectiveobsolete

    Brave and courageous; bold and audacious in the face of danger.

    Note

    Courage is where the Old English word stood: cēne meant fierce, bold, brave and warlike, and Middle English kene still meant bold and brave. The sense is now obsolete. A modern reader will take "a keen captain" as eager rather than brave unless the setting is plainly old. The same Old English word also lies behind the sharp-witted sense. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Old English cēne meant fierce, bold, brave and warlike. en.wiktionary.org
    • Middle English kene meant bold and brave. en.wiktionary.org
    • The brave or courageous sense of keen is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
    • The sharp-witted sense shares the same Old English ancestor. en.wiktionary.org