different between shrewd vs severe
shrewd
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 16th c., gradually gaining a positive connotation by 17th c.
Pronunciation
- enPR: shro?od, IPA(key): /??u?d/
- Rhymes: -u?d
Adjective
shrewd (comparative shrewder, superlative shrewdest)
- Showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters.
- Artful, tricky or cunning.
- (informal) Streetwise, street-smart.
- Knowledgeable, intelligent, keen.
- Nigh accurate.
- Severe, intense, hard.
- Sharp, snithy, piercing.
- (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!— […]
- 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III Scene ii:
- (obsolete) Portending, boding.
- (archaic) Noxious, scatheful, mischievous.
- (obsolete) Abusive, shrewish.
- (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.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act II Scene i:
Derived terms
- shrewdly
- shrewdness
Translations
shrewd From the web:
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- shrewdest meaning
- what is meant by shrewd
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severe
English
Etymology
From Middle French, from Latin severus (“severe, serious, grave in demeanor”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /s??v??/ (US) IPA(key): /s??v?r/
- Rhymes: -??(?)
Adjective
severe (comparative severer or more severe, superlative severest or most severe)
- Very bad or intense.
- Strict or harsh.
- a severe taskmaster
- Sober, plain in appearance, austere.
- a severe old maiden aunt
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (very bad or intense): mild
- (very bad or intense): minor
- (strict or harsh): lenient
Derived terms
- severely (adverb)
- severity (noun)
- severeness (noun)
Translations
Further reading
- severe in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- severe in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- severe at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Reeves, everse, reeves, servee
Esperanto
Adverb
severe
- severely
Related terms
- severa
Italian
Adjective
severe
- feminine plural of severo
Latin
Verb
s?v?re
- third-person plural perfect active indicative of ser?
Adjective
sev?re
- vocative masculine singular of sev?rus
References
- severe in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- severe in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- severe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
Serbo-Croatian
Noun
severe (Cyrillic spelling ??????)
- vocative singular of sever
severe From the web:
- what severe weather
- what severe depression feels like
- what severe means
- what severe anxiety feels like
- what severe adhd looks like
- what severe weather is in florida
- what severe stress does to the body
- what severe anemia feels like
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