clever

clev·er  (klvr)

adj. clev·er·er, clev·er·est

1. Mentally quick and original; bright.

2. Nimble with the hands or body; dexterous.

3. Exhibiting quick-wittedness: a clever story.

4. New England Easily managed; docile: "Oxen must be pretty clever to be bossed around the way they are" (Dialect Notes).

5. New England Affable but not especially smart.

6. Chiefly Southern U.S. Good-natured; amiable. See Regional Note at ugly.

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[Middle English cliver; akin to East Frisian klifer, klüfer; see gleubh- in Indo-European roots.]

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clever·ly adv.

clever·ness n.

Synonyms: clever, ingenious, shrewd
These adjectives refer to mental adroitness or to practical ingenuity and skill. Clever is the most comprehensive: "Everybody's family doctor was remarkably clever, and was understood to have immeasurable skill in the management and training of the most skittish or vicious diseases" (George Eliot).
Ingenious implies originality and inventiveness: "an ingenious solution to the storage problem" (Linda Greider).
Shrewd emphasizes mental astuteness and practical understanding: "a woman of shrewd intellect" (Leslie Stephen).

Regional Note: In the 17th and 18th centuries, in addition to its basic sense of "able to use the brain readily and effectively," the word clever acquired a constellation of imprecise but generally positive senses in regional British speech: "clean-limbed and handsome," "neat and convenient to use," and "of an agreeable disposition." Some of these British regional senses, brought over when America was colonized, are still found in American regional speech, as in the South, where clever can mean "good-natured, amiable" in old-fashioned speech. The speech of New England extends the meaning "good-natured" to animals in the specific sense of "easily managed, docile." Perhaps it was the association with animals that gave rise to another meaning, "affable but not especially smart," applicable to people when used in old-fashioned New England dialects.

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clever [ˈklɛvə]

adj

1. displaying sharp intelligence or mental alertness

2. adroit or dexterous, esp with the hands

3. smart in a superficial way

4. Brit informal sly; cunning

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

[C13 cliver (in the sense: quick to seize, adroit), of uncertain origin]

cleverish  adj

cleverly  adv

cleverness  n

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	clever - showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others; "a cagey lawyer"; "too clever to be sound" cagey, cagy, canny smart - showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness
	2.	clever - mentally quick and resourceful; "an apt pupil"; "you are a clever man...you reason well and your wit is bold"-Bram Stoker apt intelligent - having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree; "is there intelligent life in the universe?"; "an intelligent question"
	3.	clever - showing inventiveness and skill; "a clever gadget"; "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success"; "an ingenious solution to the problem" ingenious, cunning adroit - quick or skillful or adept in action or thought; "an exceptionally adroit pianist"; "an adroit technician"; "his adroit replies to hecklers won him many followers"; "an adroit negotiator"

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clever

adjective

1. intelligent, quick, bright, talented, gifted, keen, capable, smart, sensible, rational, witty, apt, discerning, knowledgeable, astute, brainy (informal), quick-witted, sagacious, knowing, deep, expert My sister has always been the clever one in our family.
intelligent slow, thick, stupid, dull, dense, dumb (informal), witless

2. shrewd, bright, cunning, ingenious, inventive, astute, resourceful, canny It's a very clever idea.
shrewd boring, dull, unimaginative

3. skilful, able, talented, gifted, capable, inventive, adroit, dexterous My father was very clever with his hands.
skilful awkward, clumsy, inept, inexpert, maladroit, unaccomplished, ham-fisted (informal)

Translations

clever [ˈklevəʳ] ADJ (cleverer (compar) (cleverest (superl)))

1. (= intelligent) [person] → inteligente, listo
clever girl! → ¡qué chica más lista!
that was clever of you → ¡qué listo eres!
that wasn't very clever, was it? > → eso ha sido una metedura de pata ¿no te parece?

2. (= skilful) [craftsman, sportsman] → hábil, habilidoso; [piece of work, action] → hábil, ingenioso
he is very clever with his hands → es muy mañoso, es muy hábil or habilidoso con las manos
she is very clever with cars → entiende de coches, tiene mano para los coches
to be clever at sth → tener aptitud para algo

3. (= ingenious) [book, idea, design] → ingenioso

4. (often pej) (= smart, astute) [politician, lawyer, criminal] → astuto, listo; [move, approach, plan] → astuto, ingenioso; [trick, hoax, technique, advertising] → ingenioso
he was too clever for us → fue más listo que nosotros
he did some clever book-keeping → hizo la contabilidad con bastante maña
don't get clever (with me)! > → ¡no te hagas el listo(conmigo)!
to be too clever by half > → pasarse de listo
clever Dick (Brit) clever clogs (Brit) → sabelotodo mf inv, listorro/a m/f
see also half 1

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clever [ˈklɛvə^r] adj

(= intelligent) [person] → intelligent(e)
She's very clever → Elle est très intelligente.
to be clever at sth (= good) → être doué(e) pour qch
to be clever at doing sth → être doué(e) pour faire qch

(= crafty) [person] → habile
to be too clever by half (British) → être trop malin/igne

[device, arrangement, system] → ingénieux/euse, astucieux/euse
a clever system → un système astucieux
what a clever idea! → quelle bonne idée!

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clever

adj

(= mentally bright) → schlau; animal also → klug; to be clever at French → gut in Französisch sein; how clever of you to remember my birthday! → wie aufmerksam von dir, dass du an meinen Geburtstag gedacht hast!

(= ingenious, skilful, witty) → klug; person, move in chess also → geschickt; idea also → schlau; device, machine → raffiniert, geschickt; to be clever at something → in etw (dat) → geschickt sein; he is clever at raising money → er ist geschickt, wenn es darum geht, Geld aufzubringen; to be clever with one’s hands → geschickte Hände haben

(= cunning, smart) → schlau, clever (inf)

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clever [ˈklɛvəʳ] adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl))) (gen) → intelligente; (deft, skilful) → abile; (ingenious, idea, person, device) → geniale
to be clever at sth → essere abile in qc
he is very clever with his hands → è molto abile or bravo nei lavori manuali
he was too clever for us → era più furbo di noi

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clever [ˈklɛvəʳ] adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl))) (gen) → intelligente; (deft, skilful) → abile; (ingenious, idea, person, device) → geniale
to be clever at sth → essere abile in qc
he is very clever with his hands → è molto abile or bravo nei lavori manuali
he was too clever for us → era più furbo di noi

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clever

adj clever [ˈklevə]

1 quick to learn and understand a clever child. slim ذكي ителигентен chytrý klog; dygtig; begavet; intelligent gescheit έξυπνος inteligente nutikas زرنگ nokkela intelligent חָכָם चतुर spretan, okretan okos pintar, pandai skynsamur, greindur intelligente 利口な 영리한 protingas gudrs pintar verstandig begavet, intelligent, kvikk, flink zdolny esperto inteligent, isteţ умный bystrý bister bistar begåvad, intelligent เฉลียวฉลาด zeki, akıllı 聰明的 розумний, здібний ہشیار، تیز فہم ، ذہین thông minh 聪明的

2 skilful a clever carpenter. handig, knap ماهِر، حاذِق ловък zručný dygtig geschickt επιδέξιος, ικανός hábil osav ماهر taitava habile מוּכשָר कुशल sposoban, spretan ügyes trampil handlaginn, snjall abile 器用な 숙련된 sumanus, nagingas spējīgs; izveicīgs pandai vaardig dyktig, flink, dreven zręczny habilidoso îndemânatic умелый zručný spreten vešt skicklig, duktig ชานำญ becerikli, hünerli 靈巧的 вправний; умілий ماہر ، کاریگر khéo léo 灵巧的

3 (of things) showing cleverness a clever idea. intelligensie, slimheid بارِع، ذَكي находчив chytrý, znamenitý klog raffiniert έξυπνος ingenioso nutikas زیرکانه nokkela ingénieux חָכָם चालाक spretan okos cerdik snjall ingegnoso 気のきいた 재치 있는 protingas gudrs; prasmīgi darināts bernas slim smart pomysłowy, sprytny engenhoso ingenios удачный dômyselný pameten lukav bra, fyndig, fiffig ซึ่งเฉลียวฉลาด zekice, akıllıca 巧妙的 розумний چالاکی دکھانے والا nhanh trí 机敏的

adv cleverly

knap, oulik, slim بِذَكاء، بِمَهارَه، بِبَراعَه изкусно chytře klogt; dygtigt; begavet; intelligent gescheit έξυπνα con inteligencia nutikalt هشیارانه nokkelasti ingénieusement בִּתבוּנָה चतुराई से spretan, okretan okosan, ügyesen secara pintar af hugvitssemi abilmente, intelligentemente うまく 영리하게, 교묘하게 protingai, sumaniai gudri; prasmīgi denan pintar knap begavet, kvikt, drevent pomysłowo, sprytnie com esperteza (în mod) inteligent удачно zručne pametno lukavo skickligt, begåvat อย่างเฉลียวฉลาด zekice, akıllıca 聰明地 вправно, розумно ہوشیاری سے khéo léo 聪明地

n cleverness

handigheid ذَكاء، مَهارَه، بَراعَه интелигентност chytrost, šikovnost klogskab; dygtighed die Klugheit εξυπνάδα inteligencia nutikus زیرکی nokkeluus ingéniosité תְבוּנָה, חָכמָה चुतराई, चालाकी spretnost, okretnost (kéz)ügyesség; okosság kepandaian greind, hugvit abilità, intelligenza 利口さ 영리함, 교묘함 protingumas, sumanumas gudrība; izveicība kepintaran verstand, handigheid intelligens; dyktighet pomysłowość, zręczność, spryt esperteza isteţime, ingeniozitate сметливость;умение zručnosť bistrost lukavost skicklighet, talang ความฉลาด zekâ, akıllılık 聰明 обдарованість, здібність ہوشیاری sự lanh lợi, thông minh 聪明

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clever → شاطر chytrý klog schlau έξυπνος inteligente älykäs intelligent pametan intelligente 賢い 영리한 slim smart zdolny esperto умный begåvad เฉลียวฉลาด zeki thông minh 聪明的