shrewd means showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters. It carries an Arena rating of 1770, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, shrewd ranks #1,303 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,017 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,532 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #5,676 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
shrewd is pronounced /ʃɹuːd/.
Why “shrewd” is a great word
Having or showing sharp powers of judgment and practical intelligence, often with a degree of worldly cunning. From Middle English *schrewed* ("depraved, wicked", literally "accursed"), from *schrewen* ("to curse"), from *schrewe* ("an evil person"), from Old English *sċrēawa* ("a wicked person", literally "biter"), with the sense of 'cunning' developing in the early 16th century and gaining a positive connotation by the 17th century. Unlike “astute,” which suggests dispassionate intellectual discernment, or “cunning,” which implies crafty and deceptive guile, shrewdness is the intelligence of the marketplace and the margin, a hard-headed acumen honed by necessity. It is the merchant’s eye appraising quality in flawed goods, the farmer’s reading of the sky to beat a coming storm, and the negotiator’s pause that turns silence into leverage—wisdom hardened by experience, sharpened not for show, but for use.
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.
adj
- Showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters.
- Artful, tricky or cunning.
- streetwise, street-smart.
- Knowledgeable, intelligent, keen.
- Nigh accurate.e.g.“a shrewd guess”
- Severe, intense, hard.e.g.“a shrewd blow, or assault”
- Sharp, snithy, piercing.e.g.“a shrewd wind”
- Bad, evil, threatening.
- Portending, boding.
- Noxious, scatheful, mischievous.e.g.“They were wont to please the Fairies, that they might doe them no shrewd turnes, by sweeping clean the Hearth and setting by it […]” — 1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 29:
- Abusive, shrewish.
- Scolding, satirical, sharp.e.g.“Leonato: By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.” — 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] B
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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