akuter

Akuter is a German adjective meaning “acute,” used to describe conditions or phenomena of sudden onset or severe intensity. It is the attributive form of the base adjective akut and is most common in medical and formal contexts, though it also appears in everyday language to indicate urgency or brevity of a condition.

In German, adjectives are declined to match gender, number, and case. Akut has several inflected forms. For masculine singular with an indefinite article, the form is akuter, as in ein akuter Schmerz. Neuter singular with an indefinite article is ein akutes Problem. Feminine singular with an indefinite article is eine akute Erkrankung. Plural forms typically appear as akute Beschwerden without an article, or die akuten Beschwerden with a definite article. After definite articles, the endings align with the weak inflection (die akuten Schmerzen, der akute Zustand is also possible in some stylistic uses).

Usage and nuance: In medical language, akut describes onset or urgency, for example akuter Brustschmerz (acute chest pain) or akuter Notfall (acute emergency). More generally, it conveys that a situation is pressing or temporary rather than chronic, as in akute Gefahr or akute Beschwerden. The opposite term is chronisch, meaning chronic. The word derives from Latin acutus, via German akut, and shares cognates with related terms in other languages.

See also: akut, chronisch, emergency medicine terminology.