Shrewd

• POS: Adjective

CIDE DICTIONARY

Shrewd, a. [Originally the p. p. of shrew, v.t.].

•  Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious; rough; unfair; shrewish.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  "[Egypt] hath many shrewd havens, because of the great rocks that ben strong and dangerous to pass by."  [1913 Webster]

  "Every of this happy number
  That have endured shrewd days and nights with us."  [1913 Webster]
•  Artful; wily; cunning; arch.  [1913 Webster]

  "These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues."  [1913 Webster]
•  Able or clever in practical affairs; sharp in business; astute; sharp-witted; sagacious; keen; as, a shrewd observer; a shrewd design; a shrewd reply.  [1913 Webster]

  "Professing to despise the ill opinion of mankind creates a shrewd suspicion that we have deserved it."  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Keen; critical; subtle; artful; astute; sagacious; discerning; acute; penetrating.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Shrewd, adj.
1 a showing astute powers of judgement; clever and judicious (a shrewd observer; made a shrewd guess). b (of a face etc.) shrewd-looking.
2 archaic a (of pain, cold, etc.) sharp, biting. b (of a blow, thrust, etc.) severe, hard. c mischievous; malicious.

Derivative

shrewdly adv. shrewdness n.

Etymology

ME, = malignant, f. SHREW in sense 'evil person or thing', or past part. of obs. shrew to curse, f. SHREW

THESAURUS

Shrewd

Byzantine, Daedalian, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, acute, all-knowing, apperceptive, appercipient, apprehending, apprehensive, arch, artful, astute, aware, cagey, calculated, calculating, canny, clever, cognizant, comprehending, conscious, crafty, cunning, cute, deceitful, deep, deep-laid, designing, devious, diplomatic, discerning, farsighted, feline, foresighted, foxy, guileful, heady, ingenious, insidious, insightful, intelligent, inventive, judicious, keen, knowing, knowledgeable, manipulative, mindful, omniscient, pawky, penetrating, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, piercing, polite, politic, prehensile, probing, prudent, quick-witted, ready, resourceful, sagacious, sage, savvy, scheming, sensible, serpentine, sharp, shifty, slick, slippery, sly, smart, smooth, snaky, sneaky, sophistical, stealthy, strategic, subtile, subtle, supple, tactical, tidy, trickish, tricksy, tricky, understanding, vulpine, wary, wily, wise

ROGET THESAURUS

Shrewd

Skill

N skill, skillfulness, address, dexterity, dexterousness, adroitness, expertness, proficiency, competence, technical competence, craft, callidity, facility, knack, trick, sleight, mastery, mastership, excellence, panurgy, ambidexterity, ambidextrousness, sleight of hand, seamanship, airmanship, marksmanship, horsemanship, rope-dancing, accomplishment, acquirement, attainment, art, science, technicality, technology, practical knowledge, technical knowledge, knowledge of the world, world wisdom, savoir faire, tact, mother wit, discretion, finesse, craftiness, management, self-help, cleverness, talent, ability, ingenuity, capacity, parts, talents, faculty, endowment, forte, turn, gift, genius, intelligence, sharpness, readiness, invention, aptness, aptitude, turn for, capacity for, genius for, felicity, capability, curiosa felicitas, qualification, habilitation, proficient, masterpiece, coup de maitre, chef d'euvre, tour de force, good stroke, skillful, dexterous, adroit, expert, apt, handy, quick, deft, ready, gain, slick, smart, proficient, good at, up to, at home in, master of, a good hand at, au fait, thoroughbred, masterly, crack, accomplished, conversant, experienced, practiced, skilled, hackneyed, up in, well up in, in practice, in proper cue, competent, efficient, qualified, capable, fitted, fit for, up to the mark, trained, initiated, prepared, primed, finished, clever, cute, able, ingenious, felicitous, gifted, talented, endowed, inventive, shrewd, sharp, on the ball, cunning, alive to, up to snuff, not to be caught with chaff, discreet, neat-handed, fine-fingered, nimble-fingered, ambidextrous, sure- footed, cut out for, fitted for, technical, artistic, scientific, daedalian, shipshape, workman- like, business-like, statesman-like, skillfully, well, artistically, with skill, with consummate skill, secundum artem, suo Marte, to the best of one's abilities, ars celare artem, artes honorabit, celui qui veut celui-la peut, c'est une grande habilite que de savoir cacher son, expertus metuit, es bildet ein Talent sich in der Stille sich ein C, heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, or the hand to execute, if you have lemons, make lemonade.

Cunning

N cunning, craft, cunningness, craftiness, subtlety, artificiality, maneuvering, temporization, circumvention, chicane, chicanery, sharp practice, knavery, jugglery, concealment, guile, doubling, duplicity, foul play, diplomacy, politics, Machiavelism, jobbery, backstairs influence, art, artifice, device, machination, plot, maneuver, stratagem, dodge, sidestep, artful dodge, wile, trick, trickery, ruse, ruse de guerre, finesse, side blow, thin end of the wedge, shift, go by, subterfuge, evasion, white lie, juggle, tour de force, tricks of the trade, tricks upon travelers, espieglerie, net, trap, Ulysses, Machiavel, sly boots, fox, reynard, Scotchman, Jew, Yankee, intriguer, intrigant, floater, Indian giver, keener, repeater, cunning, crafty, artful, skillful, subtle, feline, vulpine, cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent, deep, deep laid, profound, designing, contriving, intriguing, strategic, diplomatic, politic, Machiavelian, timeserving, artificial, tricky, tricksy, wily, sly, slim, insidious, stealthy, underhand, subdolous, deceitful, slippery as an eel, evasive, crooked, arch, pawky, shrewd, acute, sharp, sharp as a tack, sharp as a needle, canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be caught with chaff, tactful, diplomatic, politic, polite, cunningly, slyly, slily, on the sly, by a side wind, diamond cut diamond, a' bis ou a blanc, fin contre fin, something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Knowledge

N knowledge, cognizance, cognition, cognoscence, acquaintance, experience, ken, privity, insight, familiarity, comprehension, apprehension, recognition, appreciation, intuition, conscience, consciousness, perception, precognition, acroamatics, light, enlightenment, glimpse, inkling, glimmer, glimmering, dawn, scent, suspicion, impression, discovery, system of knowledge, body of knowledge, science, philosophy, pansophy, acroama, theory, aetiology, etiology, circle of the sciences, pandect, doctrine, body of doctrine, cyclopedia, encyclopedia, school, tree of knowledge, republic of letters, erudition, learning, lore, scholarship, reading, letters, literature, book madness, book learning, bookishness, bibliomania, bibliolatry, information, general information, store of knowledge, education, culture, menticulture, attainments, acquirements, acquisitions, accomplishments, proficiency, practical knowledge, liberal education, dilettantism, rudiments, deep knowledge, profound knowledge, solid knowledge, accurate knowledge, acroatic knowledge, acroamatic knowledge, vast knowledge, extensive knowledge, encyclopedic knowledge, encyclopedic learning, omniscience, pantology, march of intellect, progress of science, advance of science, advance of learning, schoolmaster abroad, scholar, knowing, cognitive, acroamatic, aware of, cognizant of, conscious of, acquainted with, made acquainted with, privy to, no stranger to, au fait with, au courant, in the secret, up to, alive to, behind the scenes, behind the curtain, let into, apprized of, informed of, undeceived, proficient with, versed with, read with, forward with, strong with, at home in, conversant with, familiar with, erudite, instructed, leaned, lettered, educated, well conned, well informed, well read, well grounded, well educated, enlightened, shrewd, savant, blue, bookish, scholastic, solid, profound, deep-read, book- learned, accomplished, omniscient, self-taught, known, ascertained, well-known, recognized, received, notorious, noted, proverbial, familiar, familiar as household words, familiar to every schoolboy, hackneyed, trite, trivial, commonplace, cognoscible, cognizable, to one's knowledge, to the best of one's knowledge, one's eyes being opened, ompredre tout c'est tout pardonner, to know all is to pardon all, empta dolore docet experientia, gnothi seauton, half our knowledge we must snatch not take, Jahre lehren mehr als Bucher, years teach more than books, knowledge comes but wisdom lingers, knowledge is power, les affaires font les hommes, nec scire fas est omnia, the amassed thought and experience of innumerable, was ich nicht weiss macht mich nicht heiss.

Wisdom

N intelligence, wisdom, intelligence, capacity, comprehension, understanding, cuteness, sabe, savvy, intellect, nous, parts, sagacity, mother wit, wit, esprit, gumption, quick parts, grasp of intellect, acuteness, acumen, subtlety, penetration, perspicacy, perspicacity, discernment, due sense of, good judgment, discrimination, cunning, refinement, head, brains, headpiece, upper story, long head, eagle eye, eagle- glance, eye of a lynx, eye of a hawk, wisdom, sapience, sense, good sense, common sense, horse sense, plain sense, rationality, reason, reasonableness, judgment, solidity, depth, profundity, caliber, enlarged views, reach of thought, compass of thought, enlargement of mind, genius, inspiration, geist, fire of genius, heaven-born genius, soul, talent, prudence, vigilance, tact, foresight, sobriety, self-possession, aplomb, ballast, a bright thought, not a bad idea, Solomon-like wisdom, intelligent, quick of apprehension, keen, acute, alive, brainy, awake, bright, quick, sharp, quick witted, keen witted, clear witted, sharp-eyed, sharp sighted, sharp witted, wide- awake, canny, shrewd, astute, clear-headed, farsighted, discerning, perspicacious, penetrating, piercing, argute, quick-witted, nimble-witted, needle-witted, sharp as a needle, sharp as a tack, alive to, clever, arch, pas si bete, acute, wise, sage, sapient, sagacious, reasonable, rational, sound, in one's right mind, sensible, abnormis sapiens, judicious, strong- minded, unprejudiced, unbiased, unbigoted, unprepossessed, undazzled, unperplexed, unwarped judgment, impartial, equitable, fair, cool, cool-headed, long-headed, hardheaded, strong-headed, long- sighted, calculating, thoughtful, reflecting, solid, deep, profound, oracular, heaven-directed, heaven-born, prudent, sober, stand, solid, considerate, politic, wise in one's generation, watchful, provident, in advance of one' age, wise as a serpent, wise as Solomon, wise as Solon, wise, sensible, reasonable, judicious, well- thought-out, well-planned, well-judged, well-advised, prudent, politic, expedient, aut regem aut fatuum nasci oportet, but with the morning cool reflection came, flosculi sententiarum, les affaires font les hommes, mas vale saber que haber, mas vale ser necio que profiadol nemo solus sapit, nosce te, gnothi seauton, nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit, sapere aude, victrix fortunae sapientia.