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.
例文
1. He enjoyed the play 's shrewd and pungent social analysis.
彼は劇中の鋭敏で鋭い社会分析が好きだ。
2.It should prove a shrewd investment.
これは抜け目のない投資になります。
3.He 's a shrewd businessman and hard as nails.
彼は抜け目がなくて鉄石心のビジネスマンだ。
4.She 's a shrewd businesswoman.
彼女は抜け目のない女商人だ。
5.He was a shrewd lawyer with a talent for uncovering paper trails of fraud.