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.

Adjective

(en-adj)

(lb) Fastidious, particular; demanding a high standard of excellence, difficult to satisfy.

*1612 , , Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia , in Kupperman 1988, p.172:

*:But departing thence, when we found no houses, we were not curious in any weather, to lie 3 or 4 nights together upon any shore under the trees by a good fire.

*(Thomas Fuller) (1606-1661)

*:little curious in her clothes

Inquisitive; tending to ask questions, investigate, or explore.

:

Prompted by curiosity.

*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , III.ix:

*:But he to shift their curious request, / Gan causen, why she could not come in place.

Unusual; odd; out of the ordinary; bizarre.

:

*

*:Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile?; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.

(lb) Exhibiting care or nicety; artfully constructed; elaborate; wrought with elegance or skill.

*(Bible), (w) xxxv.32

*:to devise curious works

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:his body couched in a curious bed