shrewd

Meaning

1. Showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters.
2. Artful, tricky or cunning.
3. (informal) streetwise, street-smart.
4. Knowledgeable, intelligent, keen.
5. Nigh accurate.
6. Severe, intense, hard.
7. Sharp, snithy, piercing.
8. (archaic) Bad, evil, threatening.
9. (obsolete) Portending, boding.
10. (archaic) Noxious, scatheful, mischievous.
11. (obsolete) Abusive, shrewish.
12. (archaic) Scolding, satirical, sharp.

Synonyms

clever

cunning

astute

sharp

crafty

sly

smart

calculating

wise

sagacious

skillful

canny

nimble

cautious

wily

keen

artful

intelligent

tricky

shifty

cagey

bright

foxy

careful

dodgy

acute

scheming

alert

subtle

skilful

quick

prudent

adroit

ingenious

cute

conniving

agile

pawky

resourceful

calculative

dexterous

good

👍

parlous

heady

able

brilliant

guileful

politic

slick

without error

Translations

schlau

listig

kurnaz

gewieft

sagace

gewitzt

gerissen

schlaukopf

hinterlistig

findig

gewiegt

abgefeimt

arglistig

pffifig

astucieux

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃɹuːd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: schrewed

Inherited from Old English: sċrēawa

In summary

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.