text: what is the difference between something that is acute and something that is chronic?   when something is acute, it is small, and sharp.  think of the triangle, with acute angles.  i always remembered them as 'a cute little angle'.  it is quite sharp, and tiny, much like the description acute as it describes a condition (usually a pain)  the word chronic comes from chronos, which means time, an unending flow.  a newspaper might be called the times, or the chronicler.  anything with the word 'chron' means that it involves a lengthy period of time.  when it is used to describe a pain, it means a pain that you've had for years.  it eases up every now and then, but for the most part, it is the same pain that keeps coming back again and again.  such as a migraine headache.