shrewd
adjective /ʃruːd/
/ʃruːd/
(comparative shrewder, superlative shrewdest)
- clever at understanding and making judgements about a situation synonym astute
- a shrewd businessman
- She is a shrewd judge of character.
- Paul was too shrewd to be taken in by this argument.
- showing good judgement and likely to be right
- a shrewd move
- I have a shrewd idea who the mystery caller was.
- I could take a pretty shrewd guess at who had sent the letter.
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘evil in nature or character’): from shrew in the sense ‘evil person or thing’, or as the past participle of obsolete shrew ‘to curse’. The word developed the sense ‘cunning’, and gradually gained a favourable connotation during the 17th cent.