Shrewd

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Shrewd \Shrewd\, a. [Compar. {Shrewder}; superl. {Shrewdest}.]
     [Originally the p. p. of shrew, v.t.]
     1. Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence,
        vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious;
        rough; unfair; shrewish. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              [Egypt] hath many shrewd havens, because of the
              great rocks that ben strong and dangerous to pass
              by.                                   --Sir J.
                                                    Mandeville.
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              Every of this happy number
              That have endured shrewd days and nights with us.
                                                    --Shak.
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     2. Artful; wily; cunning; arch.
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              These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues.
                                                    --Shak.
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     3. Able or clever in practical affairs; sharp in business;
        astute; sharp-witted; sagacious; keen; as, a shrewd
        observer; a shrewd design; a shrewd reply.
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              Professing to despise the ill opinion of mankind
              creates a shrewd suspicion that we have deserved it.
                                                    --Secker.
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     Syn: Keen; critical; subtle; artful; astute; sagacious;
          discerning; acute; penetrating.
  
     Usage: {Shrewd}, {Sagacious}. One who is shrewd is keen to
            detect errors, to penetrate disguises, to foresee and
            guard against the selfishness of others. Shrewd is a
            word of less dignity than sagacious, which implies a
            comprehensive as well as penetrating mind, whereas
            shrewd does not.
            [1913 Webster] -- {Shrewd"ly}, adv. -- {Shrewd"ness},
            n.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  shrewd
       adj 1: marked by practical hardheaded intelligence; "a smart
              businessman"; "an astute tenant always reads the small
              print in a lease"; "he was too shrewd to go along with
              them on a road that could lead only to their
              overthrow" [syn: {astute}, {sharp}]
       2: used of persons; "the most calculating and selfish men in
          the community" [syn: {calculating}, {calculative}, {conniving},
           {scheming}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  95 Moby Thesaurus words for "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