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Austere vs Shrewd - What's the difference?

austere | shrewd |

As adjectives the difference between austere and shrewd

is that austere is austere while shrewd is showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters.

austere

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Grim or severe in manner or appearance
    • The headmistress was an austere old woman.
  • Lacking trivial decoration; not extravagant or gaudy
    • The interior of the church was as austere as the parishioners were dour.

    Synonyms

    * (grim or severe) stern, strict, forbidding * (lacking trivial decoration) simple, plain, unadorned, unembellished

    Antonyms

    * (not lacking trivial decoration) overwrought, flamboyant, extravagant, gaudy, flashy

    Derived terms

    * austerity * austerely

    shrewd

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters
  • artful, tricky or cunning
  • streetwise
  • *
  • knowledgeable
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=November 10 , author=Jeremy Wilson , title=tEngland Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report , work=Telegraph citation , page= , passage=The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott. }}
  • (archaic) Scolding, satirical, sharp.
  • * 1599 ,
    • LEONATO. By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.

    Derived terms

    * shrewdly * shrewdness