Thesaurus

shrewd

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of shrewd

1 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 of shrewd

astute, canny, clear-eyed, clear-sighted, hard-boiled, hardheaded, heady, knowing, savvy, sharp, sharp-witted, smart

Words Related to shrewd

artful, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, pawky [chiefly British], slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily

discerning, insightful, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, wise

experienced, veteran

discriminating, discriminative

agile, alert, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp-eyed, sharp-sighted

apt, ingenious, resourceful

calculating, scheming

Near Antonyms of shrewd

artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, naive (or naïve)

exploitable, gullible (also gullable)

unperceptive, unwise

dense, dull, obtuse

airheaded, birdbrained, brain-dead, brainless, dim-witted, dopey (also dopy), dumb, empty-headed, feebleminded, gormless [chiefly British], half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), lunkheaded, simple, slow, slow-witted, softheaded, stupid, thickheaded, thick-witted, unintelligent, weak-minded

foolish, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, silly, thoughtless, witless

ignorant, uninformed

Antonyms of shrewd

2 causing intense discomfort to oneʼs skin

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

Synonyms of shrewd

biting, bitter, cutting, keen, penetrating, piercing, raw, sharp, smarting, stinging

Words Related to shrewd

brisk, invigorating, nippy, snappy

needlelike, prickly, tingling

caustic, corrosive

Near Antonyms of shrewd

balmy, gentle, mild, soothing

3 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 of shrewd

artful, beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily

Words Related to shrewd

astute, facile, glib, sharp

crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous

backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced

circuitous, circular, roundabout

clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover

calculating, plotting

Near Antonyms of shrewd

obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed

aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished

childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly

unforced, unstudied

trustful, trusting

Antonyms of shrewd

artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning

Synonym Discussion of shrewd

shrewd, sagacious, perspicacious, astute mean acute in perception and sound in judgment. shrewd stresses practical, hardheaded cleverness and judgment.

- a shrewd judge of character

sagacious suggests wisdom, penetration, and farsightedness.

- sagacious investors got in on the ground floor

perspicacious implies unusual power to see through and understand what is puzzling or hidden.

- a perspicacious counselor saw through the child's facade

astute suggests shrewdness, perspicacity, and diplomatic skill.

- an astute player of party politics

Learn More about shrewd

See words that rhyme with shrewd Dictionary: Definition of shrewd Spanish Central: Translation of shrewd Nglish: Translation of shrewd for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of shrewd for Arabic speakers

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