shrewd

shrewd
    adj 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}, {shrewd}]
    2: used of persons; "the most calculating and selfish men in the
       community" [syn: {calculating}, {calculative}, {conniving},
       {scheming}, {shrewd}]
    

Shrewd \Shrewd\, a. [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.
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            [Egypt] hath many shrewd havens, because of the
            great rocks that ben strong and dangerous to pass
            by.                                   --Sir J.
                                                  Mandeville.
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            Every of this happy number
            That have endured shrewd days and nights with us.
                                                  --Shak.
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   2. Artful; wily; cunning; arch.
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            These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues.
                                                  --Shak.
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   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.
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            Professing to despise the ill opinion of mankind
            creates a shrewd suspicion that we have deserved it.
                                                  --Secker.
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   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.
          [1913 Webster] -- {Shrewd"ly}, adv. -- {Shrewd"ness},
          n.
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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