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shrewd
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  • "It is not only legal, Mr. McSouthers," Judge Ford replied, signing her name to the check and handing it to the doorman, "it is a shrewd way to keep everyone playing the game."†   (source)
  • This was a shrewd move of Reenie's.†   (source)
  • But behind the dapper facade was a shrewd businessman with a strong sense of family.†   (source)
  • Leigh Teabing had protected his identity shrewdly—feigning a French accent and a pious heart, and demanding as payment the one thing he did not need—money.†   (source)
  • You have a shrewd, strong mind.†   (source)
  • Pretty shrewd, for openers, she thought.†   (source)
  • IT IS SHREWD OF THE NEW HEADMASTER TO MAKE SUCH A POPULAR DECISION—AND WHAT COULD BE MORE POPULAR WITH STUDENTS THAN ABOLISHING A REQUIREMENT?†   (source)
  • He would try to hold every inch of his soil, to defend every man, woman, and child who named him lord, and Tywin Lannister was shrewd enough to know that.†   (source)
  • You be the fool," he gazed shrewdly at Brinker, "you do whatever anyone wants whenever they want it.†   (source)
  • She eyed Pearl with a shrewd eye, trying to determine if anything still needed work.†   (source)
  • My grandfather was much shrewder than that.†   (source)
  • She gave Piper a shrewd look.†   (source)
  • In the twilight the memory of him was very sharp, the soft pink skin aging on his fine cheekbones, the thin aristocratic nose, the eyes, so shrewd and yet so loving.†   (source)
  • Ray looked at me shrewdly.†   (source)
  • It inspected him with shrewd eyes, then flicked its tail dismissively.†   (source)
  • His eyes were suddenly shrewd.†   (source)
  • He looked shrewdly at Jack.†   (source)
  • He watches me with shrewd, judging eyes.†   (source)
  • Hemme gave me a shrewd look.†   (source)
  • Shrewdly, Carter counts on our registering "Tiffany = Ophelia" so that she can use her instead as a different Shakespearean character, Hero, who in Much Ado About Nothing allows her friends to stage her death and funeral in order to teach her fiance a lesson.†   (source)
  • With his shrewd mind and the physical strength of his huge frame, he earned money wherever he could to feed his family.†   (source)
  • His shrewdness was right on the surface, so it had an innocent quality to it, but it was there just the same.†   (source)
  • Denz Ay stopped, with a shrewd look.†   (source)
  • Marian looked at me shrewdly and took the book from my hands.†   (source)
  • We see village women constantly sweeping their huts and the barren clearings in front of their homes with palm-frond brooms, and Rachel with her usual shrewdness points out you could sweep a floor like that plumb to China and never get it clean.†   (source)
  • Not a sophisticated man, Filitov was an uncommonly shrewd one who had a soldier's instinct for finding weaknesses and exploiting strengths.†   (source)
  • The man himself was a mixture of simplicity, shrewdness, and amiability.†   (source)
  • I thought if only I had a keen, shapely bone structure to my face or could discuss politics shrewdly or was a famous writer Constantin might find me interesting enough to sleep with.†   (source)
  • Sir Peter is a witty man and a shrewd trader, but if he had admired our things as you do, we would have been gladder to let him have them.†   (source)
  • All that was needed was shrewd questioning, first of the patient and then of his mother, to conclude once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera.†   (source)
  • I am so cunning, crafty and clever, so filled with deceit, guile and chicanery, such a knave, so shrewd, cagey as well as calculating, as diabolical as I am vulpine, as tricky as I am untrustworthy ...well, I told you there were not words invented yet to explain how great my brain is, but let me put it this way: the world is several million years old and several billion people have at one time or another trod upon it, but I, Vizzini the Sicilian, am, speaking with pure candor and modesty, the slickest, sleekest, sliest and wiliest fellow who has yet come down the pike.†   (source)
  • "Of course we're hoping Eadlyn will find someone worthy of settling down with," Mom began shrewdly.†   (source)
  • It was masterful, shrewd and stunningly preemptive.†   (source)
  • But when he told Yves that, for this reason, he had decided to reject the offer, Yves looked at him shrewdly, and sighed.†   (source)
  • He has a talent for it," she added shrewdly.†   (source)
  • (He finds a beer in the refrigerator, wanders over to MURCHISON, sipping and wiping his lips with the back of his hand, and straddling a chair backwards to talk to the other man) Shrewd move†   (source)
  • But he was shrewd.†   (source)
  • For fifteen years, Akku Yadav had terrorized Kasturba Nagar while shrewdly building a small business empire.†   (source)
  • Herschel made the shrewd decision to hire the highly regarded Rush firm, on a contingency basis, and said good-bye to his Memphis attorney.†   (source)
  • Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl whose father was shrewd enough to scrounge together all the zloty he had to send his youngest daughter to America.†   (source)
  • All the same, Dick was full of fun, and he was shrewd, a realist, he "cut through things," there were no clouds in his head or straw in his hair.†   (source)
  • Valencia stayed with him, and Kilgore Trout, who had been on the fringe of the crowd, came closer, interested, shrewd.†   (source)
  • Deets fought carefully and shrewdly—he would have known the trick about fresh blood.†   (source)
  • I don't know-I was always a pretty shrewd customer at twenty-one, but you birds may just be too tough for me.†   (source)
  • Since leaving the warren of the snares they had become warier, shrewder, a tenacious band who understood each other and worked together.†   (source)
  • He was shrewd too, never tempting arrest by carrying guns or cash.†   (source)
  • If it counts for anything, what he's really learned during his present term is how to do time shrewdly.†   (source)
  • A shrewd househunter like Mama could set things up fairly comfortably—by Manzanar standards—if she kept her eyes open.†   (source)
  • He was pleased with his own shrewdness in fathoming Gray Stoddard's mysterious motives.†   (source)
  • Then his eyes grow shrewd, almost amused.†   (source)
  • "Now, Max," said Nix, peering at him with a shrewd eye.†   (source)
  • His expression was shrewd and sophisticated.†   (source)
  • Frodo said nothing: the shrewd guesses of the farmer were rather disconcerting.†   (source)
  • Exact numbers are impossible to pin down in such a secretive endeavor, but one of the rare reports to appear in the heavily censored Saudi press hints at the massive change shrewdly invested petroleum profits are having on Pakistan's most impoverished students.†   (source)
  • So they moved shrewdly and efficiently.†   (source)
  • The one in the lead turns his head from side to side, shrewdly assessing the ground.†   (source)
  • I glanced at Shay and saw him looking at me with utter focus, his eyes clear and shrewd.†   (source)
  • Lovell, the most active member of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and a dedicated patriot, was a shrewd, industrious man who loved intrigue and would make himself Congress's expert on cryptology.†   (source)
  • My mother was shrewd, but Aunt came from a better family than ours and her learning was deeper.†   (source)
  • A king shrewd with words can mount a great army on promises.†   (source)
  • She was a shrewd woman, my stepmother, in spite of all her superstitious fancies.†   (source)
  • Sources are shrewd and defensive people; they guard their contacts jealously.†   (source)
  • "Favor," he said shrewdly.†   (source)
  • The Batutsi were destined to rule; their mere demeanor lends them considerable prestige over the inferior races that surround them...There is nothing surprising about the fact that the less shrewd, simpler, more spontaneous, and more confiding Bahutu braves let themselves be enslaved.†   (source)
  • One thing was certain: if Ryan was indeed BoneMan as they now suspected, he was one twisted and very shrewd adversary.†   (source)
  • Critical to the publicity's success was Howard's shrewdest decision.†   (source)
  • He had nursed our softball team along for two years, and by a mixture of patience, luck, shrewd manipulations during some tight ball games, and hard, fist-thumping harangues calculated to shove us into a patriotic awareness of the importance of athletics and physical fitness for the war effort, he was able to mold our original team of fifteen awkward fumblers into the top team of our league.†   (source)
  • His eyes were shrewd without intelligence, his smile good-natured without kindness.†   (source)
  • Wasn't a cold, shrewd revolutionist; just wanted to get my heel into faces that matched those six voices.†   (source)
  • April said, eyeing me shrewdly.†   (source)
  • He knew Catti-brie to be shrewd and observant beyond her years.†   (source)
  • He was reputed to be shrewd, but also man of his word.†   (source)
  • Diana's eyes were shrewd.†   (source)
  • He'd built his dynasty slowly, shrewdly—though he swears he didn't have a clue back then, just knew he wanted to work hard and be successful for Christina and their girls.†   (source)
  • Either he was very upset, or Seth Taylor was a shrewd actor.†   (source)
  • He glanced over my shoulder, his shrewd eyes appraising the activity in the hall.†   (source)
  • When Cooper strolled into a roomful of people, or shrewdly moved through a forestful of animals, his presence was like that of a king.†   (source)
  • Gabriel smiled, praised Fareed for his shrewdness and wisdom, and said nothing more on the subject.†   (source)
  • This one will be shrewd, I think, and shrewdness is a limitation on the mind.†   (source)
  • "Very shrewd, Frog-face," said the Knight, clapping Puddleglum on the shoulder and laughing again.†   (source)
  • Benjamin Ross was described as "twenty-eight years of age, chestnut color, medium size and shrewd."†   (source)
  • Blue Elk looked at him shrewdly.†   (source)
  • His shrewd assumption being that no suicides would reply, leaving him automatically with only valid inputs.†   (source)
  • In any case, it is interesting that my grandmother's father, after consummating the sale, converted the proceeds into Federal gold dollars of various denominations, no doubt in shrewd foreknowledge of the disastrous war to come, and placed the coins in a clay jug which he buried beneath an azalea at the back of the garden.†   (source)
  • "It is not unbearable," said she, watching me with her shrewd eyes.†   (source)
  • Nor did he approve of the kidnapping itself: Van Ryberg had a shrewd idea that for some tune extremists in the Freedom League had been putting pressure on Wainwright to make him adopt a more active policy.†   (source)
  • An air general, a shrewd character, a human being.†   (source)
  • I have to admit, Corwin did a shrewd thing in taking me prisoner rather than killing me.†   (source)
  • They were shrewd enough to see that the old ways of settling on land in the West were on the way out.†   (source)
  • Very shrewd investments he made, too.†   (source)
  • He now watched even the boys he liked best with very particular caution, and they saw that unless they were much more shrewd the game was likely to be spoiled again.†   (source)
  • The intellect of the Puritan—of John Quincy Adams and his forebears—was, as George Frisbie Hoar has said: fit for exact ethical discussion, clear in seeing general truths, active, unresting, fond of inquiry and debate, but penetrated and restrained by a shrewd common sense...He had a tenacity of purpose, a lofty and inflexible courage, an unbending will, which never qualified or flinched before human antagonist, or before exile, torture, or death.†   (source)
  • His face was broad and bristled; shrewd, watchful, and a little cunning.†   (source)
  • And with a gentleman's tastes, he said, giving me a shrewd look.†   (source)
  • At any rate, Mad Claude's expression became shrewder.†   (source)
  • "Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" said Hermione shrewdly.†   (source)
  • This may be the shrewdest cataloging I've ever seen.†   (source)
  • Because you wouldn't want to hurt his feelings," he suggested shrewdly.†   (source)
  • Cecilia may seem flighty, but in fact she's shrewder than most.†   (source)
  • It seems too easy, the clues adding up to one message, especially for a shrewd guy like Westing.†   (source)
  • As it turns out, though, betrayal can also breed penitents, shrewd minor politicians, and ghosts.†   (source)
  • With a shrewd look at his niece, Matthew Wood interceded for her.†   (source)
  • Scrimgeour stopped too, leaned on his stick and stared at Harry, his expression shrewd now.†   (source)
  • Rita didn't say anything for a while, but eyed Hermione shrewdly, her head a little to one side.†   (source)
  • Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?" said Fred shrewdly.†   (source)
  • He swung his shrewd, appraising gaze over to me.†   (source)
  • "Ah," she says, nodding shrewdly at him, as if this explains it.†   (source)
  • He adopted a shrewd expression, which, on S.Q., looked rather as if he had severe indigestion.†   (source)
  • That's a phoenix said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it.†   (source)
  • Coach O sensed, shrewdly, that there was a right answer and a wrong answer to this.†   (source)
  • Reynie, on the other hand, was very shrewd about people....And now S.Q. was knocking on the door.†   (source)
  • Hannah's shrewd little eyes studied the girl's downcast face.†   (source)
  • You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly.†   (source)
  • Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression shrewd.†   (source)
  • She has been shrewd or perhaps lucky in advisors so far.†   (source)
  • She likes to play the merry fool, but underneath she's shrewder than her father.†   (source)
  • So he's quite the shrewd businessman, huh?†   (source)
  • You're the shrewdest lawyer I know, and Lisbeth is going to need somebody she can trust.†   (source)
  • The small shrewd things Marian used to ask me.†   (source)
  • How much had he figured out already with his crazy, insightful shrewdness?†   (source)
  • Mormont's raven watched with shrewd black eyes, then fluttered to the window.†   (source)
  • At last he looked shrewdly at Fiver and said, "Eh, Meester Liddle Von, you know vat I pring, ya?"†   (source)
  • 'Old Maggot is a shrewd fellow,' said Merry.†   (source)
  • "Margaery is too shrewd to be caught so easily," said Lady Merryweather.†   (source)
  • He's a shrewd character with an eye out for a quick dollar.†   (source)
  • Qhorin's shrewd grey eyes seemed to see right through him.†   (source)
  • And yet he was shrewd, you had to grant.†   (source)
  • Adam, you first impressed me through your ability to make shrewd guesses as to future events.†   (source)
  • Your heart is shrewd as well as faithful, and saw clearer than your eyes.†   (source)
  • Beneath that and a three-day growth, he's also shrewd and sophisticated.†   (source)
  • But he did do something extremely shrewd.†   (source)
  • Richter, looking shrewdly at him but letting the matter drop.†   (source)
  • No, yes, wise but also tough and shrewd.†   (source)
  • Perched above the window, the Old Bear's raven peered down at him with shrewd black eyes.†   (source)
  • He leaned forward slightly and his manner took on a shrewd and significant air.†   (source)
  • "Hold on, Wanda," Jeb said, his shrewd eyes suddenly sharper.†   (source)
  • Political insiders knew him to be a shrewd negotiator and a prescient political mind.†   (source)
  • A look of shrewdness and purpose was returning to her face.†   (source)
  • He turned abruptly, to give Davos a hard shrewd look.†   (source)
  • The banker studied her with shrewd dark eyes.†   (source)
  • His head was large and square, his eyes shrewd, his nose veined and red.†   (source)
  • A narrow man, but iron-willed and shrewd, and as good a soldier as the Reach could boast.†   (source)
  • Brown Ben is shrewd, tenacious, not unintelligent ...but wary.†   (source)
  • He was old and tough, shrewdly and impersonally vicious.†   (source)
  • he speaks all too shrewdly,' said Theoden.†   (source)
  • At a time like this you need shrewd, resourceful people like myself.†   (source)
  • You would seem inspired if you didn't seem shrewd.†   (source)
  • "Hubby too busy to take you to the station?" asked Charlie at last, turning to look at her shrewdly.†   (source)
  • "We were fed at the temple," I said, not meeting those shrewd eyes.†   (source)
  • You did some pretty shrewd things along the way.†   (source)
  • This one will be shrewd, I think, and shrewdness is a limitation on the mind.†   (source)
  • Shrewdness tells you what you must not do because it would not be shrewd.†   (source)
  • Shrewdness tells you what you must not do because it would not be shrewd.†   (source)
  • "Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd.†   (source)
  • No, he hasn't," said Ron shrewdly.†   (source)
  • She cast an eye shrewdly on him as she said this last, and when he didn't reply she tapped the spoon against the rim of the bowl in peremptory fashion.†   (source)
  • 'All I'm saying is that getting the Sharp Cereal Professor to do another spot seems about as shrewd to me as having Richard Nixon do an encore State of the Union address.†   (source)
  • For some reason the old man had taken pity on this helpless white boy, and at the same time he had shrewdly grasped at the chance for his grandson to learn to read.†   (source)
  • Aro's shrewd eyes narrowed.†   (source)
  • Dumbledore suggested shrewdly.†   (source)
  • He was watching her shrewdly, and again saw a flicker of uncertainty, of wanting to believe, in her eyes.†   (source)
  • he allowed, but his eyes were shrewd.†   (source)
  • In establishing himself as a popular hero with legendary aggressiveness, the admiral would blind later generations to his impressive intellectual abilities and a shrewd gambler's instinct to—" Jack Ryan frowned at his computer.†   (source)
  • Glick gave a shrewd smile.†   (source)
  • It was our lives in the near future that we were searching for when we searched in those rooms, and therefore it was shrewd of Owen that he made us take our time.†   (source)
  • He gave Jon a long shrewd look.†   (source)
  • He had a shrewd suspicion that Dumbledore might have stepped in to stop Snape failing him on purpose.†   (source)
  • Doctor Quinn was Joan's psychiatrist, a bright, shrewd, single lady, and I often thought if I had been assigned to Doctor Quinn I would be still in Caplan or, more probably, Wymark.†   (source)
  • Awer had come from the Radch itself, from the start had had wealth and influence enough to allow it to criticize, and criticize it did, though generally with shrewdness enough to keep itself out of real trouble.†   (source)
  • They take turns leaning forward to point out their moves with shrewd congeniality, playing it like a chess match, the kind of game that allows civilized men to play at make-believe murder.†   (source)
  • Of course," he adds, with a shrewd glance, "you will be paid the sum agreed on, no matter what your conclusions."†   (source)
  • And he was shrewder than his father.†   (source)
  • He looked at her shrewdly.†   (source)
  • Yet Satan is shrewd.†   (source)
  • "So you've been thinking that I didn't believe you capable of fighting the boggart?" said Lupin shrewdly.†   (source)
  • Freeze was only thirty-three, and with his white-blond hair and unlined face might have passed for even younger than he was—if he weren't so shrewd.†   (source)
  • "Because you know what this was really about, don't you?" said my dad, leaning on the door frame with one elbow and looking at me shrewdly.†   (source)
  • Hermione said nothing at all for the rest of the lesson, but Harry had a shrewd suspicion that her self-restraint was bound to crack before long.†   (source)
  • And there was another, general misunderstanding at that time: contrary to popular belief, coming to Canada was not a very shrewd way to beat the draft; there were better and easier ways to "beat" it— I'll tell you about one, later.†   (source)
  • Anybody who needs anything in Kinshasa—a kidney-stone operation or a postage stamp—has to bargain for it, shrewdly.†   (source)
  • Phineas Nigellus gave a long yawn, stretching his arms as he surveyed Harry out of shrewd, narrow eyes.†   (source)
  • Even at his gawkiest and most pinched he'd always had a likable shrewdness about him, lively eyes and a quick intelligence, but he'd lost that half-starved rawness and everything else had come together the right way.†   (source)
  • Pick the courses shrewdly and work quickly and the most tawdry academic record could be renovated in a single summer.†   (source)
  • Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song: A thousand years or more ago, When I was newly sewn, There lived four wizards of renown, Whose names are still well known: Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, Fair Ravenclaw, from glen, Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, Shrewd Slytherin, from fin.†   (source)
  • This was borderline acceptable to Harriet Wheelwright—although my grandmother was a shrewd enough businesswoman to know that the dollars and cents of teaching (even at as prestigious a prep school as Gravesend Academy) were not exactly in her league.†   (source)
  • In the midst of the pandemonium Gershom Bulkeley quietly reached for the copybook, studied it carefully, and turned a shrewd, deliberative eye upon Kit.†   (source)
  • There was an immediate impression of shrewdness and toughness; the Prime Minister thought he understood why the Wizarding community preferred Scrimgeour to Fudge as a leader in these dangerous times.†   (source)
  • Even more shrewdly, Fulmer staged his tableau on the very Friday that Michael was meant to make his official visit to Ole Miss.†   (source)
  • Somebody (and Harry had a very shrewd idea who) had set off what seemed to be an enormous crate of enchanted fireworks.†   (source)
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