acute vs dire

acute

adj
  • Urgent. 

  • Of a triangle: having all three interior angles measuring less than 90 degrees. 

  • Of an accent or tone: generally higher than others. 

  • Intense, sensitive, sharp. 

  • Of a short-lived condition, in contrast to a chronic condition; this sense also does not imply severity. 

  • Of an abnormal condition of recent or sudden onset, in contrast to delayed onset; this sense does not imply severity, unlike the common usage. 

  • Brief, quick, short. 

  • After a letter of the alphabet: having an acute accent. 

  • With the sides meeting directly to form an acute angle (at an apex or base). 

  • High or shrill. 

  • Of an angle: less than 90 degrees. 

verb
  • To give an acute sound to. 

noun
  • An acute accent (´). 

  • A person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia. 

  • An accent or tone higher than others. 

dire

adj
  • Requiring action to prevent bad consequences: urgent, pressing. 

  • Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding; portentous. 

  • Expressing bad consequences: dreadful; dismal. 

  • Bad in quality, awful, terrible. 

How often have the words acute and dire occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )