shrewd

• adj. 精明的；狡猾的；机灵的
• n. 精明（的人）；机灵（的人）

来自 shrew,鼩鼱。即像鼩鼱一样的，后词义褒义化。

shrewd

shrewd: [14] Shrewd originally meant ‘wicked, dangerous’. Its modern sense ‘astute’ did not develop (via a less approbatory ‘cunning’) until the 16th century. It was derived from shrew ‘wicked man’ (a sense now obsolete). This is generally assumed to be the same noun as shrew the animal-name [OE], a word of uncertain origin. Shrews were formerly thought to have a poisonous bite, and were held in superstitious fear – hence the term’s metaphorical application. The move from ‘wicked man’ via ‘bad-tempered abusive complainer’ to ‘nagging woman’ began in the 14th century.
=> shrew

shrewd (adj.)

c. 1300, "wicked, evil," from shrewe "wicked man" (see shrew). Compare crabbed from crab (n.), dogged from dog (n.), wicked from witch (n.). The sense of "cunning" is first recorded 1510s. Related: Shrewdly; shrewdness. Strutt's "Sports and Pastimes of the People of England" (1801) has a shrewdness of apes for a company or group of them. Shrewdie "cunning person" is from 1916.

1. He enjoyed the play's shrewd and pungent social analysis.

他喜欢剧中尖锐机敏、一针见血的社会分析。

来自柯林斯例句

2. It should prove a shrewd investment.

这将是一项精明的投资。

来自柯林斯例句

3. He's a shrewd businessman and hard as nails.

他是一个既精明又铁石心肠的生意人。

来自柯林斯例句

4. She's a shrewd businesswoman.

她是个精明的女商人。

来自柯林斯例句

5. He was a shrewd lawyer with a talent for uncovering paper trails of fraud.

他是个精明强干的律师，能从一连串文件中找出诈骗的蛛丝马迹。

来自《权威词典》