verb
definition
To make cold, to sharpen.
adjective
definition
Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.
example
I’m keen on computers.
definition
Fierce, intense, vehement.
example
This boy has a keen appetite.
definition
Having a fine edge or point; sharp.
definition
Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp.
definition
Acrimonious, bitter, piercing.
example
keen satire or sarcasm
definition
Of cold, wind, etc.: cutting, penetrating, piercing, sharp.
example
a keen wind
definition
Of prices, extremely low as to be competitive.
definition
Marvelous.
example
I just got this peachy keen new dress.
definition
Brave, courageous; audacious, bold.
Examples of keen in a Sentence
He continued to take a keen interest in art and science.
He wasn't too keen on the idea when she first told him about it.
He was a fine horseman and keen hunter.
She kept a keen eye out for the same kind of weed and was surprised at how much they found.
It's a nice house, a keen house, complete with a front porch and swing.
New friends gathered round him who took a keen interest in his researches.
But through all situations of his life he preserved his equanimity, his keen interest in science, and his indefatigable zeal for the instruction of others.
They took a keen interest in all the political vicissitudes of the Oriental world.
Latterly certain Catholics have questioned this equality of the concordatory obligation, and have aroused keen discussion.
When her fingers were too tired to spell another word, I had for the first time a keen sense of my deprivations.
These last articles show a keen analysis and interpretation of facts.
Throughout life Carteret not only showed a keen love of the classics, but a taste for, and a knowledge of, modern languages and literatures.
There was in his character a peculiar mixture of conservatism and a keen sense of the requirements of the day.
It is a keen but not always fair criticism of the Pelagian position from that of Augustine.
The Watchers aren't too keen about Darian's idea.
Though he took a keen interest in the personal side of politics he has no claim to be considered a judge of character.
In the younger ranks of the educated classes this state of things produced keen dissatisfaction, which soon found vent in revolutionary agitation.
I am keen on the reportage style of pictures.
The latter work was attacked by Burnet and others, but the author showed himself as keen a controversialist as ever.
These affirmations provoked very keen protests in the ecclesiastical world.
I'm not too keen on that part.
Younger children will be keen to search for Santa, maybe going on a reindeer safari to get there.
For keen shoppers, the designer malls are nearby.
But he also took a keen interest and frequently an active part in the political and social movements of the day; and so highly did the students of Aberdeen rate his practical ability, that, after his retirement from the chair of logic, they twice in succession elected him lord rector of the university, each term of office extending over three years.
He was a keen musician and a good handyman.
Moreover, the keen artistic instincts of Matthias led him to embellish his cities as well as fortify them.
A crude system, based on the external appearance of plants and their uses to man, was gradually evolved, and is well illustrated in the Herbal, issued in 1597 by John Gerard (1545-1612), a barber-surgeon, who had a garden in Holborn, and was a keen student of British plants.
They are mainly agriculturists, though some are keen traders (see NUBIA).
The title address was an epigrammatic confession of political faith as hopeful as it was wise and keen.
We arrived a little late at the rendezvous point, the North lakes Hotel near Penrith, did n't want to look too keen.
The organizers are keen to see company sponsored poetry residencies continue, but so far none have emerged.
She is a lovely girl, who is so keen to learn and an asset to the shop stewards committee.
Her usually keen judgment and her diplomatic tact again and again recall Peter the Great.
Ben Adret, with the approval of other prominent Spanish rabbis, sent a letter to the community at Montpellier proposing to forbid the study of philosophy to those who were less than thirty years of age, and, in spite of keen opposition from the liberal section, a decree in this sense was issued by ben Adret in 1305.
He was reporter of the committee which drew up the constitution of the year III., and his report shows keen apprehension of a return of the Reign of Terror, and presents reactionary measures as precautions against the re-establishment of "tyranny and anarchy."
As he was keen at his books and fond of music he was destined for the Church, and when eight years old was sent to school at Wesen, where he lived with his uncle, the dean.
The text of Hosea may be in a much worse condition, but a keen scrutiny discloses many an uncertainty, not to say impossibility, in the traditional form of Amos.
Golf he did not take up till comparatively late in life; and, though he became keen on the game, he never attained more than a moderate proficiency.
A more plausible theory is that the author is an honest thinker, a keen observer and critic of life, who sees that the world is full of miseries and unsolved problems, regards as futile the attempts of his time to demonstrate an ethically active future life, and, recognizing a divine author of all, holds that the only wise course for men is to abandon the attempt to get full satisfaction out of the struggle for pleasure, riches and wisdom, and to content themselves with making the best of what they have.
At this time, in association with the keen humanists Conrad Mutian, Crotus Rubeanus and Eoban Hess, he was of sceptical tendency; moving to Wittenberg in 1519, he became evangelical under the teaching of Melanchthon and the preaching of Luther.
From early times George Fox and many others had taken a keen interest in education, and in 1779 there was founded at Ackworth, near Pontefract, a school for boys and girls; this was followed by the reconstitution, in 1808, of a school at Sidcot in the Mendips, and in 1811, of one in Islington Road, London; it was afterwards removed to Croydon, and, later, to Saffron Walden.
His knowledge of human nature is keen and ample, and his sermons are a remarkable reflection of the manners and customs of his age.
He was as keen in his resentments as he was ardent in his friendships; fondly attached to his family, he yet disliked a deserving son; he gave full praise to Leibnitz and Leonhard Euler, yet was blind to the excellence of Sir Isaac Newton.
The public appetite, however, for " mysticism " was not keen.
The Berbers are keen traders too, and, after the harvest, hawk small goods, travelling great distances.
All the eight boys were brought up to be keen cricketers, the cricket-ground at Hagley, Worcs., their home, being close to the house; all went to Eton, and six were in the Eton eleven.
He came into touch with advanced methods of scientific research, acquired great ability as a writer, keen perception of truth and an unflinching realization of the defects of his own people, and the unpleasant but essential fact that to have better government they must first deserve it.
He worked actively against the sweating system, pleaded for European intervention in Macedonia, and was a keen supporter of the Licensing Bill of 1908.
The faintest stars visible to the naked eye on clear nights are of about the sixth magnitude; exceptionally keen, well-trained eyes and clear moonless nights are necessary for the perception of stars of the seventh magnitude.
He finds traces of a keen conflict of parties in the post-apostolic age.