shrewd
adjective
[ ʃruːd ]
• having or showing sharp powers of judgement; astute.
• "she was shrewd enough to guess the motive behind his gesture"
Similar:
astute,
sharp-witted,
sharp,
acute,
intelligent,
clever,
alert,
canny,
media-savvy,
perceptive,
perspicacious,
observant,
discriminating,
sagacious,
sage,
wise,
far-seeing,
far-sighted,
cunning,
artful,
crafty,
wily,
calculating,
disingenuous,
on the ball,
smart,
savvy,
suss,
pawky,
heads-up,
long-headed,
sapient,
argute,
have all one's wits about one,
• (especially of weather) piercingly cold.
• "a shrewd east wind"
Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘evil in nature or character’): from shrew in the sense ‘evil person or thing’, or as the past participle of obsolete shrew ‘to curse’. The word developed the sense ‘cunning’, and gradually gained a favourable connotation during the 17th century.
