Synonyms of shrewd

shrewd

adjective

ˈshrüd 

1

as in smart

having or showing a practical cleverness or judgment

a shrewd used car dealer who knew how to make the best possible deal

shrewd investments that paid off big

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smart
• astute
• savvy
• wise
• sharp
• clever
• brilliant
• intelligent
• knowing
• hardheaded
• cunning
• veteran
• experienced
• canny
• keen
• heady
• clear-eyed
• clear-sighted
• sharp-witted
• quick
• wily
• bright
• slick
• sagacious
• sly
• subtle
• perceptive
• insightful
• artful
• perspicacious
• hard-boiled
• crafty
• devious
• cagey
• tricky
• guileful
• foxy
• resourceful
• discerning
• ingenious
• pawky
• sage
• cagy
• nimble
• percipient
• dodgy
• sapient
• brainy
• discriminative
• discriminating
• agile
• apt
• quick-witted
• calculating
• alert
• scheming
• sharp-eyed
• sharp-sighted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• naive
• naïve
• ingenuous
• guileless
• artless
• innocent
• unknowing
• gullible
• unwise
• exploitable
• unperceptive
• dumb
• stupid
• dense
• simple
• obtuse
• foolish
• slow
• dull
• unintelligent
• thoughtless
• idiotic
• dopey
• feebleminded
• silly
• ignorant
• weak-minded
• thickheaded
• brainless
• gullable
• moronic
• brain-dead
• imbecile
• uninformed
• witless
• imbecilic
• dim-witted
• slow-witted
• softheaded
• empty-headed
• lamebrained
• gormless
• knuckleheaded
• lamebrain
• thick-witted
• half-witted
• airheaded
• dopy
• lunkheaded
• idiotical
• birdbrained

2

as in bitter

causing intense discomfort to one's skin

she pulled her coat tighter against the shrewd breeze whipping down the alley

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bitter
• sharp
• biting
• keen
• brisk
• penetrating
• stinging
• piercing
• raw
• cutting
• smarting
• snappy
• caustic
• corrosive
• invigorating
• nippy
• prickly
• needlelike
• tingling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• gentle
• mild
• soothing
• balmy

3

as in cunning

clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means

a shrewd operator in the real estate game, she made every buyer think they were getting the deal of the century

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cunning
• cute
• subtle
• slick
• deceptive
• wily
• fraudulent
• dishonest
• sly
• treacherous
• artful
• crooked
• crafty
• devious
• cagey
• designing
• beguiling
• tricky
• scheming
• guileful
• foxy
• astute
• deceitful
• cagy
• calculating
• dodgy
• shady
• sharp
• slippery
• unscrupulous
• glib
• Machiavellian
• covert
• sneaky
• clandestine
• plotting
• oblique
• shifty
• facile
• undercover
• knavish
• underhanded
• hypocritical
• circular
• underhand
• roundabout
• insincere
• secret
• serpentine
• circuitous
• concealed
• surreptitious
• backhanded
• stealthy
• furtive
• insinuating
• smooth-tongued
• two-faced
• mealy
• double-dealing
• left-handed
• mealymouthed
• hugger-mugger

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ingenuous
• guileless
• artless
• innocent
• obvious
• public
• plain
• simple
• honest
• sincere
• straightforward
• outspoken
• forthright
• real
• direct
• open
• candid
• frank
• unaffected
• unpretentious
• unconcealed
• natural
• unsophisticated
• unvarnished
• patent
• impressionable
• childlike
• unpretending
• unworldly
• aboveboard
• simpleminded
• plainspoken
• undesigning
• unstudied
• trusting
• trustful
• unforced

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective shrewd differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of shrewd are astute, perspicacious, and sagacious. While all these words mean "acute in perception and sound in judgment," shrewd stresses practical, hardheaded cleverness and judgment.

a shrewd judge of character

When is it sensible to use astute instead of shrewd?

While the synonyms astute and shrewd are close in meaning, astute suggests shrewdness, perspicacity, and diplomatic skill.

an astute player of party politics

When could perspicacious be used to replace shrewd?

The meanings of perspicacious and shrewd largely overlap; however, perspicacious implies unusual power to see through and understand what is puzzling or hidden.

a perspicacious counselor saw through the child's facade

When might sagacious be a better fit than shrewd?

While in some cases nearly identical to shrewd, sagacious suggests wisdom, penetration, and farsightedness.

sagacious investors got in on the ground floor

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shrewd

Boston is a first-class organization that scouts well, drafts well and always manages to make shrewd trades and financial decisions, but the Celtics' road back to the finals just became exceedingly more difficult. —Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025

Adding rookies rather than veterans is a shrewd move by Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. —Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025

The purchase was a shrewd move. —Hollace Ava Weiner, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Aug. 2025

Netanyahu is an extraordinary communicator and a shrewd politician. —Marc Champion, Twin Cities, 14 Aug. 2025