Literary notes about Shrewd (AI summary)
In literary contexts, "shrewd" is employed to evoke a dual sense of penetrating insight and, at times, cunning manipulation. Authors use it both to commend a character’s astute perception—for example, a professor who boldly meets challenging inquiries ([1]) or a businessman whose deliberate actions underscore his sagacity ([2])—and to hint at an undercurrent of craftiness, as when characters negotiate bargains with a certain devious flair ([3], [4]). Moreover, its evolution in usage is noted when early texts reveal that "shrewd" once carried connotations of evil or mischief ([5]), while later works balance this negativity by celebrating keen judgment mixed with a touch of duplicity ([6], [7]). Thus, across various narratives, "shrewd" enriches character portrayal by straddling the line between wise acumen and subtle, sometimes ambivalent, manipulation.
- He was a shrewd, undaunted professor, and fearlessly replied to the bishop's questions.
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe - Mr. Barrow was a shrewd businessman, and felt it as well to make his own freedom from responsibility quite clear without any delay.
— from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - But mind that thou bringest a good three hundred pounds with thee, for I trust not one that driveth so shrewd a bargain.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - The shrewd Wall Street speculators laughed at the young Westerner, and told him pork would go to sixty dollars, for the war was not nearly over.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden - Shrewd originally meant evil, mischievous.
— from The Lady of the Lake by Walter Scott - 1.16: from Σοφός , ή, όν, wise generally, 1 Co. 1.25; shrewd, sagacious, clever, Ro. 16.19. 1 Co. 3.10; 6.5; learned, intelligent, Mat. 11.25.
— from A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by William Greenfield - Nay, I know not what he said; but I have a shrewd guess what he thought.
— from Every Man in His Humor by Ben Jonson
