shrewd

\ʃɹuːd\

/\ʃɹuːd\/ adj

The verdict

“shrewd” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Malin, astucieux.

Corpus desk

Index FR-shrewd · shrewd · French

shrewd · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for shrewd
PropertyValue
Headwordshrewd
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ʃɹuːd\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « shrewd » en français

shrewdsiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shrewd is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ʃɹuːd\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Malin, astucieux.".

Zero misspellings are on record for shrewd in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is shrewd, spelled S-H-R-E-W-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Malin, astucieux.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how shrewd appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I met two kinds of leaders in big tech. Burns was one of them. I called him that not because he was a crony or an evil old man, but because he had a habit of posting Mr. Burns memes in Slack whenever he pitched an especially shrewd plan.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shrewd"?
"shrewd" is spelled S-H-R-E-W-D. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃɹuːd\.
What does "shrewd" mean?
As an adjective, "shrewd" means: Malin, astucieux.
How do you pronounce "shrewd"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shrewd" is \ʃɹuːd\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "shrewd" come from?
"shrewd" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list