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shrewd

adj
/ʃɹuːd/

Etymology

From Middle English schrewed (“depraved; wicked”, literally “accursed”), from schrewen (“to curse; beshrew”), from schrewe, schrowe, screwe (“evil or wicked person/thing”), from Old English sċrēawa (“wicked person”, literally “biter”). Equivalent to shrew + -ed. More at shrew. The sense of "cunning" developed in early 16ᵗʰ c., gradually gaining a positive connotation by 17ᵗʰ c.

  1. inherited from sċrēawa — “wicked person”
  2. inherited from schrewed — “depraved; wicked”

Definitions

  1. Showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters.

  2. Artful, tricky or cunning.

  3. streetwise, street-smart.

    • Willie is very aware of this fact and lets Johnny Attell know that there is a fly in the ointment, and Johnny, who is a very shrewd article, has his chauffeur drive him to Bradford Street so he can change the kid's mind.
  4. ›+ 9 more definitions

    1. Knowledgeable, intelligent, keen.

    2. Nigh accurate.

      • a shrewd guess

    3. Severe, intense, hard.

      • a shrewd blow, or assault

    4. Sharp, snithy, piercing.

      • a shrewd wind

    5. Bad, evil, threatening.

      • Portia: There are some shrewd contents in yon same paper, That steals the colours from Bassanio's cheek: Some dear friend dead; else nothing in the world Could turn so much the constitution Of any constant man. What, worse and worse!— […]

    6. Portending, boding.

    7. Noxious, scatheful, mischievous.

      • They were wont to please the Fairies, that they might doe them no shrewd turnes, by sweeping clean the Hearth and setting by it […]

    8. Abusive, shrewish.

    9. Scolding, satirical, sharp.

      • Leonato: By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at shrewd. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01shrewd02cunning03crafty04skill05learned06knowledgeable07well-informed08knowledge09knowing

A definitional loop anchored at shrewd. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at shrewd

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA