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# shrewd

«shrewd» in Mova's school dictionary: **Clever at understanding people and situations and at…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (shrewd, shrewder, shrewdest); adverb shrewdly

### meaning for a pupil

1) Clever at understanding people and situations and at making good, practical decisions, especially about money or business. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#m1)

2) (of a guess or choice) Wise and likely to be right. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories a shrewd character spots tricks, makes clever deals and is hard to fool, like a shrewd shopkeeper or detective. In money lessons a shrewd buyer compares prices. It is mostly praise but can hint at being a bit sly. Phrases: «a shrewd guess», «a shrewd move», «a shrewd businesswoman».

### examples

- The shrewd shopkeeper knew the coin was fake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x1)
- That was a shrewd move — you saved half your pocket money. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x2)
- Grandma is shrewd; you can't fool her with a story. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x3)
- I made a shrewd guess that the answer was 12, and I was right. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x4)
- A shrewd buyer checks the price per gram, not just the price. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x5)
- The detective gave the suspect a shrewd look. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x6)
- He shrewdly kept some money back for later. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x7)
- Well, Donald was a shrewd fellow, and downhearted though he was, began to think if he could get any good out of Daisy's death. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/#x8)

### note

Adjective; noun «shrewdness». Rhymes with «food». Not the same as «shrew», a tiny mouse-like animal (and an old insulting word for a bad-tempered woman). In maths word problems a «shrewd shopper» usually picks the better deal (lowest unit price).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «shrewd» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shrewd/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.