clever
/ˈklɛv.ɚ/ adjective A1- Nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept. · My dad is quite clever with his hands, especially at carpentry.
- Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.
- Mentally quick and resourceful; skilled at achieving what one wants in a mentally agile and inventive way. · clever like a fox· With a clever lawyer, she could easily be acquitted.
- Smart, intelligent, or witty; mentally quick or sharp.
- Showing mental quickness and resourcefulness. · This is a simple but clever trick to solve the problem.
- Showing inventiveness or originality; witty.
- Good-natured; obliging.
- Possessing magical abilities.
Comparative cleverer · Superlative cleverest
From the library
It’s nice to be clever at something, isn’t it?
“You are old,” said the youth, “one would hardly suppose That your eye was as steady as ever; Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose— What made you so awfully clever?”
But the quick inference, the subtle trap, the clever forecast of coming events, the triumphant vindication of bold theories—are these not the pride and the justification of our life’s work?
Holmes, clever as you are; for if you had chanced to take off that plaster you would have found no cut underneath it.
Learn clever in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.