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visual acuity
noun
: the relative ability of the visual organ to resolve detail that is usually expressed as the reciprocal of the minimum angular separation in minutes of two lines just resolvable as separate and that forms in the average human eye an angle of one minute
Examples of visual acuity in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Your healthcare provider will evaluate your symptoms with an eye examination, which includes a visual acuity test and testing of your eye muscles.
—Troy Bedinghaus, Od, Verywell Health, 1 June 2024
This visual acuity from such a tiny, simple creature is unusual because capabilities like that are usually reserved for more advanced creatures, like vertebrates, arthropods, and cephalopods.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
The shorter a dog's head, the more similar their visual acuity is to human vision.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 21 Dec. 2023
The optimal formula of the supplement helps to restore visual acuity.
—Discover Magazine, 30 June 2023
But that doesn’t matter too much in person, because 60 ppd is not far off the visual acuity of the average person’s vision.
—Andrew Williams, WIRED, 4 Feb. 2024
Selective breeding of dogs has produced breeds with different visual capacities, so another aspect of the study involved measuring the length of a dog's head, which prior research has shown is correlated with visual acuity.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 21 Dec. 2023
Of course, visual acuity doesn’t tell the whole story of animal vision.
—Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 6 June 2018
Melanin content influences certain bodily functions such as visual acuity or skin resilience to sun damage, but the pathology diagnosed in albinism is not primarily focused on the vision problems that are likely to occur in many instances of albinism or in the vulnerability to sun damage.
—Thando Hopa, Allure, 23 Aug. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'visual acuity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1889, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near visual acuity
Cite this Entry
“Visual acuity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/visual%20acuity. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Medical Definition
visual acuity
noun
: the relative ability of the visual organ to resolve detail that is usually expressed as the reciprocal of the minimum angular separation in minutes of two lines just resolvable as separate and that forms in the average human eye an angle of one minute compare minimum separable, minimum visible
More from Merriam-Webster on visual acuity
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about visual acuity
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