different between careful vs shrewd

English

Alternative forms

• carefull (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English careful, from Old English carful; equivalent to care +? -ful.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k??f?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?k?(?)?f?l/

Adjective

careful (comparative more careful, superlative most careful)

1. Taking care; attentive to potential danger, error or harm; cautious.

2. Conscientious and painstaking; meticulous.

3. (obsolete) Full of care or grief; sorrowful, sad.
4. (obsolete) Full of cares or anxiety; worried, troubled.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.1:

     Where through long watch, and late daies weary toile, / She soundly slept, and carefull thoughts did quite assoile.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:cautious
• See also Thesaurus:meticulous

Antonyms

• careless

Derived terms

• carefully
• carefulness

Translations

Anagrams

• acreful

English

Alternative forms

• shrewde (obsolete)

Etymology

c. 1300, Middle English schrewed (“depraved; wicked”, literally “accursed”), from schrewen (“to curse; beshrew”), from schrewe, schrowe, screwe (“evil or wicked person/thing”), from Old English scr?awa (“wicked person”, literally “biter”). Equivalent to shrew +? -ed. More at shrew.

The sense of "cunning" developed in early 16^th c., gradually gaining a positive connotation by 17^th c.

Pronunciation

• enPR: shro?od, IPA^(key): /??u?d/

• Rhymes: -u?d

Adjective

shrewd (comparative shrewder, superlative shrewdest)

1. Showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters.
2. Artful, tricky or cunning.
3. (informal) Streetwise, street-smart.
4. Knowledgeable, intelligent, keen.
5. Nigh accurate.

6. Severe, intense, hard.

7. Sharp, snithy, piercing.

8. (archaic) Bad, evil, threatening.
   • 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III Scene ii:

     Portia:

     There are some shrewd contents in yon same paper,

     That steals the colours from Bassanio's cheek:

     Some dear friend dead; else nothing in the world

     Could turn so much the constitution

     Of any constant man. What, worse and worse!— […]

9. (obsolete) Portending, boding.
10. (archaic) Noxious, scatheful, mischievous.
11. (obsolete) Abusive, shrewish.
12. (archaic) Scolding, satirical, sharp.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act II Scene i:

      Leonato: By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.

Derived terms

• shrewdly
• shrewdness

Translations