Astute

 WORD OF THE DAY

astute / adjective / uh-STOOT

Definition

1: having or showing shrewdness and an ability to notice and understand things clearly : mentally sharp or clever

2: crafty, wily

Examples

"In her new memoir, 'Both/And,' … [Huma Abedin] may be one of the most politically astute and well-traveled women in the world, but she portrays herself as far from worldly, at least in affairs of the heart." 

— Susan Dominus¸ The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2021

We thought they were not very intellectually astute, but we didn't really understand how political a lot of what they were doing was.

— Ben Wallace-Wells, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2007

Did You Know?

Astute comes from the Latin noun astus, meaning "craft." 

The word implies being keenly observant and forming sound judgments based on knowledge and experience.