(superl.) Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious; rough; unfair; shrewish.
(superl.) Artful; wily; cunning; arch.
(superl.) Able or clever in practical affairs; sharp in business; astute; sharp-witted; sagacious; keen; as, a shrewd observer; a shrewd design; a shrewd reply.
Example Sentences:
(1) The crucial additional feature of his nature, however, was that the apparently guileless charm was accompanied by a razor-sharp shrewdness.
(2) The brewer does not think the pipeline will pay back in less than 20 years, but it appears to be a shrewd commercial move.
(3) From child migrants to the doctors’ dispute, principled compromise should be the mantra of the shrewd politician.
(4) Wilson, though, quick to adopt new personas, and adapt to new circumstances, adored the attention, and shrewdly exploited his role as local minor celebrity when it came to what he was really interested in - helping Manchester to recreate itself as a major city, with its radical, inventive and progressive traditions intact.
(5) She pursued many reforms with energy, intelligence and political shrewdness.
(6) Raynor, however, had shrewdly appreciated what England's tactically naive Walter Winterbottom had disastrously not; that it was Hidegkuti, in his deep-lying position, who made the Hungarian wheels turn.
(7) Most of his £3bn is based on his shrewd purchase of BHS in 2000.
(8) There were occasional bursts of vivacity: the comment, when the Tory government economised on a booster station for the BBC World Service, that "Nation shall murmur unto nation"; shrewd opposition to entry into the ERM "at an unsustainable rate"; and an early warning to Nigel Lawson, in 1988, of the looming economic crisis.
(9) He remained an admirably efficient analyst of certain plays and human motivation, and a shrewd guide for those in search of something to go to.
(10) He admitted that he has "some big decisions to make" but was too shrewd to act on the spur of the moment, when his mind was still clouded with a disappointment that will linger for a long while yet.
(11) But there is a proviso: the region's youth bulge came hand-in-hand with high-quality education that prepared a generation for the marketplace – as well as shrewd economic policies that widened that marketplace in the first place.
(12) A shrewd former military officer, Sarkisian, 61, has been in charge of the small landlocked nation of 2.9 million since winning a vote in 2008.
(13) Acute came from acus , Latin for needle, later denoting pointed things, so cute at first meant “acute, clever, keen-witted, sharp, shrewd”, according to the 1933 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, which doesn’t suggest the term could describe visual appearance.
(14) After repeated failures to clear Cairo’s city centre of street vendors … the Cairo governorate issued a shrewd decree,” wrote Abdelrahman, in an article she published last year.
(15) Aided by shrewd trading on capital markets, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs produced strong results this week but Citigroup and Bank of America , both of which have required huge injections of government money for survival, have struggled.
(16) Turnover Crystal Palace Accounts of CPFC 2010 Ltd for the year to 30 June 2015 • Ownership Steve Parish and US investors David Blitzer and Joshua Harris control the holding company; individual stakes not disclosed • Turnover 14th highest in League £102m , up from £90m in 2014 • Income Gate and match-day income £10m; Broadcasting & FA and PL income £80m; Sponsorship & advertising £4m; Commercial £5m; Other income £4m • Wage bill 15th highest in League £68m , up from £46m in 2014 • Wages as proportion of turnover 67% • Profit before tax £8m , following £23m profit in 2014 • Net debt £0 (£18m cash in bank) • Interest payable £0 • Highest-paid director No directors were paid State they are in: Palace finished 10th in 2014-15, maintaining their bounce under the shrewd stewardship of Steve Parish and his three fellow investors, all lifelong fans, who bought the club out of administration in 2010.
(17) Meanwhile, something’s afoot in the wind at Víctor’s old club, as Barcelona are looking at renewing the contracts of Leo Messi and Neymar , having shrewdly spotted they’re both decent.
(18) The recruitment document said, however, that a permanent secretary "balances ministers' or high-level stakeholders' immediate needs or priorities with the long-term aims of their department, being shrewd about what needs to be sacrificed, at what costs and what the implications might be".
(19) For a man who’s often considered a shrewd politician, David Cameron lets his government slide into an extraordinary number of damaging and unnecessary conflicts.
(20) A large man with a rumpled shirt, snowy beard and hair pulled into a ponytail, the commissioner resembles a hippy Santa Claus but is a tough, shrewd operator.
Wily
Definition:
(superl.) Full of wiles, tricks, or stratagems; using craft or stratagem to accomplish a purpose; mischievously artful; subtle.
Example Sentences:
(1) They could go out and trade for a pitcher such as the New York Mets’ Bartolo Colón , an obvious choice despite his 41 years, but he would come with an $11m price tag for next season and have to pass through the waiver wires process first – considering the wily mood Billy Beane is in this year, the A’s could be the team that blocks such a move.
(2) A wily character, he initially refused, saying the deadline was impossible.
(3) Noted for his Savile Row suits and languid charm, he was nevertheless a tough and wily reporter in the field, using his wits to escape death on more than one occasion.
(4) The News of the World said it was £750,000 ("Wily Vanessa teamed up with PR to the stars Max Clifford and the pound signs began rolling in her eyes," its reporter claimed).
(5) on Saturday the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott summed up the feelings of many in the party when he suggested that the "wily" Tories had deliberately used their coalition partners as shields to deflect public anger.
(6) Scotland shows how that can give an illusion of success which will evaporate at the moment of choice, especially when up against a wily and ruthless incumbent.
(7) The wily Brazilian, managing in a record sixth World Cup, said he would make "one, maybe two" changes to the starting line‑up.
(8) Wily and smart, she is more than a match for the suitors who attempt to claim her in his absence; and she is no pushover, either, when Odysseus finally turns up.
(9) Opinion polls in recent months have repeatedly shown that Tsvangirai's popularity has been hurt by divisions within the opposition and his own scandalous love-life , putting him and Mugabe neck-and-neck, with the wily president even edging in front on occasion.
(10) Harradine was a wily negotiator and kept Howard guessing on his support for the goods and services tax.
(11) Team spirit might be an ethereal quality that is difficult to quantify on scoreboards and league tables but Karanka has given confidence to the players he inherited, been a wily transfer dealer, particularly this season with the loan signings of the strikers Patrick Bamford and Jelle Vossen, and brought through young home-grown players from the club’s academy, such as Ben Gibson and Adam Reach, who are now integral members of the squad.
(12) But out of nothing, Frank Farina's men were awarded a penalty just before half-time won by the wily Del Piero.
(13) Guns, gates and guards can only provide so much protection against a wily, creative adversary who is willing to risk oblivion.
(14) The wily old tease may have been mugging for the studio audience, lapping up the howls of disappointment that no doubt followed such a statement.
(15) A blizzard of visual sexual signifiers – fake nails, big hair, Dita Von Teese figure balanced on impossibly high stilts – and her "Jessica Rabbit sex appeal" (again, self-proclaimed) belies a wily business brain.
(16) Wily Ukraine national coach Oleg Blokhin also tasted victory in court after he was forced to resign from the position because of his other job, as a Ukrainian MP.
(17) He flew to Brazil hoping to bring him back, but he had underestimated the wily Biggs whose girlfriend, Raimunda, announced that she was expecting his child.
(18) Wily David Carney chalked one up for the nay-saying ageists by outfoxing youngster Thomas Deng to execute a superb run and finish, one which was harder than it may have seemed.
(19) After Cantor fell, McCarthy showed himself a wily tactician, coming fast out of the block and letting it be known he was the heir apparent with the necessary votes, all but sealing the majority leader race within 48 hours.
(20) So, when browsing, an open mind is far more effective than knowing exactly what you want – eBay works topically, so avoid anything worn by Kate Middleton and all high-street capsule collections, eg last week's Versace line for H&M, which wily types bought en masse and are currently reselling at marked-up prices.