[ʃruːd], (Adjective)

Definitions:
- having or showing sharp powers of judgement; astute
(e.g: she was shrewd enough to guess the motive behind his gesture)

- (especially of weather) piercingly cold
(e.g: a shrewd east wind)


Phrases:

Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘evil in nature or character’): from shrew in the sense ‘evil person or thing’, or as the past participle of obsolete shrew ‘to curse’. The word developed the sense ‘cunning’, and gradually gained a favourable connotation during the 17th century