a. [(? a. F. astut) ad. L. astūtus, lengthened form of astus crafty, cunning.] Of keen penetration or discernment, esp. in regard to one’s own interests; shrewd, subtle, sagacious; wily, cunning, crafty.
1611. Cotgr., Astut, astute, crafty, subtill, wyly, guilefull.
1634. Sir M. Sandys, Prudence, 168. Wee terme those most Astute, which are most Versute. [Not in Johnson, 1755.]
1829. I. Taylor, Enthus., x. 258. The astute atheism of Greece and Rome.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 331. He had, with the astute fickleness of a barbarian, come to a secret understanding with Scipio.
