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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Shrewd \Shrewd\, adjective [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.
[Egypt] hath many shrewd havens, because of the great rocks that ben strong and dangerous to pass by. --Sir J. Mandeville.
Every of this happy number That have endured shrewd days and nights with us. --Shak.
2. Artful; wily; cunning; arch.
These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues. --Shak.
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. --Secker.
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. -- {Shrewd"ly}, adverb -- {Shrewd"ness}, n.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
shrewd
adjective
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
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