From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshrewdshrewd /ʃruːd/ ●○○ adjective 1 INTELLIGENTgood at judging what people or situations are really like Malcolm is a shrewd businessman. She was shrewd enough to guess who was responsible. Capra looked at her with shrewd eyes.2 INTELLIGENTwell judged and likely to be right a shrewd decision Bridget has a shrewd idea of what will sell. —shrewdly adverb ‘Something tells me you’ve already decided, ’ he said shrewdly. —shrewdness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
shrewd• Kyle is a shrewd, aggressive manager.• We assumed that so long as we moved along shrewd and cautious and quiet we would be safe.• As a manager, Watson is both shrewd and tough.• Dark-haired, he had shrewd beady eyes, was clean-shaven and showed the beginnings of a jowl.• Are you a shrewd businessman, quick to see an opportunity or a bargain?• Was he, perhaps, an actor, a ghost, a shrewd fiction?• Thanks to some shrewd investments, they've got plenty of money left.• He made a large personal fortune, partly from fees, partly from shrewd investments.• Sachs was a shrewd judge of character, and chose his staff well.• There was a good living to be had for a shrewd man in an institution.• Pre-match preparation and shrewd organisation have created consistency.• They had once been shrewd traders of horseflesh.Origin shrewd (1200-1300) shrew in the old meaning “very bad man”