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

(er)

Having the appearance of someone dishonest, criminal or unreliable; such as someone with shifty eyes .

He was a shifty character in a seedy bar and I checked my wallet was still there after talking to him.

Subject to frequent changes in direction.

* 1971 , Henry Handel Richardson, Ultima Thule (page 121)

Off he raced, shuffling his bare feet through the hot, dry, shifty sand. But it was no good: she didn't care.

Full of, or ready with, shifts or expedients.

(Wright)

* Charles Kingsley

Shifty and thrifty as old Greek or modern Scot, there were few things he could not invent, and perhaps nothing he could not endure.