Shrewdness
['ʃru:dnis]
Definition
(noun.) intelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings).
Checked by Helena--From WordNet
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Cunning, archness, artfulness, subtlety, craft, astuteness, slyness, art, address, skill, policy.[2]. Sagacity, acumen, acuteness, perspicacity, sharpness, keenness, ingenuity, discernment, penetration, intelligence, mother-wit, quick parts.
Checker: Prudence
Examples
- Of my friend Heep,' said Mr. Micawber, 'who is a man of remarkable shrewdness, I desire to speak with all possible respect. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- But they had reckoned without the political shrewdness of the socialists. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- This original method of reducing the amount of physical labor involved in watch-winding brings to mind another instance of shrewdness mentioned by Edison, with regard to his newsboy days. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Rome has always had too much of the shrewdness of the priest and too little of the power of the prophet. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Miss Morrison is a little ethereal slip of a girl, with timid eyes and blond hair, but I found her by no means wanting in shrewdness and common-sense. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Phineas was tall and lathy, red-haired, with an expression of great acuteness and shrewdness in his face. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Edison's native shrewdness and knowledge of human nature was put to practical use in the busy days of plant construction. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Oh, I don't mean that; he wouldn't believe it of you--at first, said Mrs. Trenor, with candid shrewdness. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I do not think one could have seen where two particles joined each other with eyes of ordinary shrewdness. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Editor: Maureen