perceptive

One doesn’t expect Chekhovian subtlety, but a little more trust in the perceptive powers of the audience wouldn’t be amiss.

The most perceptive joke to air on American television in the last 10 years goes something like this:

These positions moved, more or less persuasively, within the space of rational discourse; perceptive, well-informed people could profitably debate them.

Once there, Elwood quickly realizes that his highly perceptive nature will both help and hinder his survival.

Cunningham, a New Yorker staff writer, is a perceptive cultural critic, and in this first novel a fine storyteller as well.