Shrewdness
collective noun /ˈʃruːdnəs/ — What you call a group of apes — and it's not a compliment, it's a description.
Definition
The collective noun for a group of apes — reflecting the widely observed intelligence, problem-solving ability, and social complexity of great apes.
Beyond the definition
Apes make and use tools. They recognise themselves in mirrors. They grieve, negotiate, deceive, and cooperate. Calling their group a shrewdness isn't poetic licence — it's a description. The word respects the animal in a way that 'troop' or 'herd' simply doesn't.
Origin & history
From Middle English shrewd — cunning, sharp-witted (from 'shrew' — a small, fierce animal). Originally negative (cunning, wicked), shrewdness evolved to mean intelligent acuteness. The collective noun appeared in medieval lists, reflecting early observations of ape behaviour.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
A shrewdness of chimps had figured out how to open the feeding box within an hour.
The researchers watched the shrewdness negotiate territory for three hours without a single act of violence.
A shrewdness of gorillas moved through the forest with a quiet authority that stopped the hikers cold.
Synonyms
group, troop, band, community
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Word in focus
A shrewdness of apes
Chimpanzees sitting close together on the grass.
Here, “shrewdness” names the whole gathering. Notice the animals together rather than looking for one individual with that name. The photograph illustrates the group; it is not evidence that this particular scene inspired the expression.
Image credit: Garst, Warren, 1922-2016, photographer · CC BY-SA 4.0 (license)
Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a fitted crop.