clev·er
(klĕv́ər)
[Middle English cliverEast Frisian klifer, klüfer.]
adjective: -er·er, -er·est.
- Mentally quick and original; bright.
- Nimble with the hands or body; dexterous.
- Exhibiting quick-wittedness: a clever story.
- New England Easily managed; docile: “Oxen must be pretty clever to be bossed around the way they are” (Dialect Notes)
- New England Affable but not especially smart.
- Chiefly Southern U.S. Good-natured; amiable.
derivatives
- clev́er·ly
- adverb
- clev́er·ness
- noun
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)
