SHREWD • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Shrewd

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/ʃrud/ Listen

adjective

Shrewd adj. (compar. shrewder; superl. shrewdest)

1.

Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious; rough; unfair; shrewish. (Obs.) "(Egypt) hath many shrewd havens, because of the great rocks that ben strong and dangerous to pass by." "Every of this happy number That have endured shrewd days and nights with us."

2.

Artful; wily; cunning; arch. "These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues."

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

Synonyms: Keen; critical; subtle; artful; astute; sagacious; discerning; acute; penetrating. 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.

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Etymology of 'Shrewd'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shrewd" Quotes from Famous Books

... against American influence; men who too often lend themselves to the purposes of the ward heeler, the district leader in controlling the people, who too often keep silence when the poor are the victims of the shrewd Italians who have grown rich on the ignorance of their countrymen. One man made $8,000 by supplying 1,000 laborers to a railroad. He collected $5 from each man as a railroad fare, though transportation was given by the road, and $3 from each man for the material to build a house. ...

— Aliens or Americans? • Howard B. Grose

... "Very shrewd!" said his friend approvingly. "Palmer, you are a credit to our profession. I shall be content to take lessons ...

— The Erie Train Boy • Horatio Alger

... know. Also, it may have been dark enough to use the search-light and yet light enough so that a car could be distinguished at a hundred feet. If there was any light at all, that big Peckwith-Pierce car could be recognized by any one." He was impressed. I could see it by the thoughtful, shrewd look that, came into his eyes. Already, he was making arrests by the ...

— 32 Caliber • Donald McGibeny

... almost inaccessible. The escort was twice attacked by the Indians, who were as often repulsed; but these rencounters cost the English about forty men killed and wounded, including some officers. Some shrewd objections might be started to the general's choice of ground on this occasion. He could not act at all without passing the river Montmorenci at a very great disadvantage, and attacking an enemy superior to himself in number, secured by redoubts and intrenchments. ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. - From William and Mary to George II. • Tobias Smollett

... Proverbs might almost be called a treatise on Friendship, so full is it of advice about the sort of person a young man should consort with, and the sort of person he should avoid. It is full of shrewd, and prudent, and wise, sometimes almost worldly-wise, counsel. It is caustic in its satire about false friends, and about the way in which friendships are broken. "The rich hath many friends," with an easily understood ...

— Friendship • Hugh Black

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