clever

American  

[klev-er] / ˈklɛv ər /

adjective

cleverer, cleverest

1. mentally bright; having sharp or quick intelligence; able.

   Synonyms:

   expert, apt, gifted, smart, quick-witted, talented, ingenious

   Antonyms:

   stupid

2. superficially skillful, witty, or original in character or construction; facile.

   It was an amusing, clever play, but of no lasting value.

3. showing inventiveness or originality; ingenious.

   His clever device was the first to solve the problem.

4. adroit with the hands or body; dexterous or nimble.

   Synonyms:

   handy, agile, skillful

   Antonyms:

   clumsy

5. Older Use.

   1. suitable; convenient; satisfactory.

   2. good-natured.

   3. handsome.

   4. in good health.

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clever British  

/ ˈklɛvə /

adjective

1. displaying sharp intelligence or mental alertness

2. adroit or dexterous, esp with the hands

3. smart in a superficial way

4. informal sly; cunning

5. dialect (predicative; used with a negative) healthy; fit

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Other Word Forms

• cleverish adjective
• cleverishly adverb
• cleverly adverb
• cleverness noun
• overclever adjective
• overcleverly adverb
• overcleverness noun
• unclever adjective
• uncleverly adverb
• uncleverness noun

Etymology

Origin of clever

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English cliver, perhaps from Old English clifer “claw,” clife “burdock,” or akin to East Frisian klüfer “skillful, agile, alert”; cleavers, cleft ¹, clove ²

Example Sentences

She triply underlines her feminist themes and nearly sabotages her own clever creation.

From Los Angeles Times

‘Don’t try to be clever!’ the soldier shouts.

From Literature

Trotsky was a dazzling speaker and a dandy who “never quite stopped being a clever schoolboy desperate to show others how much he had learned.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Nesbø encloses “Wolf Hour,” translated from the Norwegian by Robert Ferguson, in a clever conceptual envelope: The book is being written years later by a Norwegian cousin of Bob’s.

From The Wall Street Journal

All of which would be merely clever if the eight-episode “Classic” were not—in addition to being the funniest series of recent memory—so devoted to the concepts of tradition and continuity in the theater.

From The Wall Street Journal