Shrewdly
/ˈʃruːdli/noun
In a clever, sharp, and practical way.
Did you know?Shrewdly comes from Old English *scrēad*? No—its true ancestor is the Old English adjective *scrēad*? Actually the word traces to Middle English *shrewe*/*shrewed*, where *shrew* meant an evil or mischievous person, showing how a word for moral nastiness softened into “clever.”
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
scrēawa
“a shrew; later associated with a bad-tempered or wicked person”
Middle English
ME
shrewe
“an evil, wicked, or troublesome person”
Middle English
ME
shrewed
“wicked, mischievous, or ill-disposed”
14th–15th Century
English
shrewd
“originally bad or malicious; later also keen, astute, or sharp”
Modern English
English
shrewdly
“in a clever, practical, or astute manner”