shrewd

CEFRC2

/ʃɹuːd/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Good at judging people and situations to gain an advantage.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Artful, tricky or cunning.

Examples

  • I know that Tom is a very shrewd businessman.

  • He is shrewd and calculating.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. streetwise, street-smart.

  2. Showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters.

  3. Knowledgeable, intelligent, keen.

More examples

In context

  • They are shrewd in trade.

  • a shrewd blow, or assault

  • a shrewd guess

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank investor predicted the market crash and sold all stocks early.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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.