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Synonyms

smart as a whip

Idioms  

  1. Very intelligent or clever, as in Little Brian is smart as a whip; he's only three and already learning to read. This simile alludes to the sharp crack of a whip. [Mid-1900s] Also see mind like a steel trap.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“He’s smart as a whip, agile, super curious and an amazing broadcaster,” said news consultant Michael Clemente, Smith’s former boss at Fox News and a longtime ABC News executive.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 27, 2020

He’s smart as a whip and is already reading independently, but socially he’s just not there yet.

From Slate • Sep. 10, 2020

If Salt was its calm center, then Kidder was its wild child, hilariously witty and smart as a whip.

From The Guardian • May 14, 2018

“He’s a natural at it. But he’s smart as a whip and he works on his craft. To have a guy at his age with the work ethic, you’ve got to praise him for that.”

From New York Times • Sep. 28, 2017

He’s toting that hundred-dollar pistol what come from God-know-where, we know he’s smart as a whip, and we know he’s young, real young.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.