cleverness
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clev·er
(klĕv′ər)adj. clev·er·er, clev·er·est
1.
a. Mentally quick and original; bright: a clever student.
b. Skilled at accomplishing things, especially with the hands: a clever carpenter.
c. Crafty; cunning: "a hard-working kid who rose from poverty, only to be duped by rich, clever bankers" (Jeff Goodell).
2.
a. Exhibiting ingenuity or imagination; creative or artful: a clever experiment.
b. Witty; amusing: an evening of clever repartee.
c. Characterized by cunning or shrewdness: clever manipulation of public opinion.
3. New England Easily managed; docile: "Oxen must be pretty clever to be bossed around the way they are" (Dialect Notes).
4. Chiefly Southern US Good-natured; amiable.
clev′er·ly adv.
clev′er·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cleverness
See Also: ALERTNESS
- Adroit as a rhinoceros —Franklin P. Adams
- Brains like the frogs, dispersed all over his body —Charles Dickens
- Clever as a bird-dog —American colloquialism, attributed to New England
- Clever as sin —Rudyard Kipling
- Crafty as a new religious convert pledged to win over a sinner —Gloria Norris
- Crafty as an exorcist —Miles Gibson
- Crafty as the sea —W. B. Yeats
- Cunning as a dead pig, but not half so honest —Jonathan Swift
- Cunning is a sort of short-sightedness —Joseph Addison
- Has as many tricks as a bear —John Ray’s Proverbs
- Hinted with the delicacy of a lilac bud —Sinclair Lewis
- Ingenious as magicians —Delmore Schwartz
- Like rats, his wits were beginning to busy themselves again —Walter De La Mare
- Little clevernesses are like half-ripened plums, only good eating on the side that has had a glimpse of the sun —Henry James
- Played on his misfortune as on a cello —Marguerite Yourcenar
- Sharp and bright as a blade of sunlight —Alice Walker
- Sharp as a cut-throat razor —Donald Seaman
- Sharp as a knife —American colloquialism, attributed to New England
An equally popular variation, also attributed to New England folklore: “Sharp as a razor.”
- Sharp as a needle —Anon
Common usage has made this interchangeable with “Sharp as a pin.” A variation of more recent vintage, “Sharp as a tack,” has become a cliche in its own right.
- Sharp as mustard —Ogden Nash
In Nash’s poem, The Tale of the Custard Dragon, the descriptive frame of reference is a little dog.
- Shrewd as a barrel-load of monkeys —Robin Sheiner
- Shrewd as a sparrow —Janet Flanner
- Shrewdness is often annoying, like a lamp in the bedroom —Ludwig Boerne
- Sly and slick as a varmint —Robert Penn Warren
- (Every move had been as stealthy and as) sly as a hungry coyote —William Humphrey
- Smart as a whip —Anon
Used to the point of abuse since the seventeenth century. A variation in keeping with the phrase’s origin in the smarting pain caused by a whip: “Sharp as a whiplash.”
- Smart as new nails —Sharon Sheehe Stark
- Tricky as palmistry —Karl Shapiro
- Wily as a fox —John Clarke
The fox continues to be a favorite link to clever, crafty behavior. Often ‘cunning’ is substituted for ‘wiley’, and the fox is not just any fox but “An old one.”
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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Noun | 1. | cleverness - the power of creative imagination resourcefulness, imagination, resource - the ability to deal resourcefully with unusual problems; "a man of resource" |
2. | cleverness - intelligence as manifested in being quick and witty intelligence - the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience | |
3. | cleverness - the property of being ingenious; "a plot of great ingenuity"; "the cleverness of its design" high quality, superiority - the quality of being superior |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
cleverness
noun
1. intelligence, sense, brains, wit, brightness, nous (Brit. slang), suss (slang), quickness, gumption (Brit. informal), sagacity, smartness, astuteness, quick wits, smarts (slang, chiefly U.S.) He congratulated himself on his cleverness.
2. shrewdness, sharpness, resourcefulness, canniness a policy almost Machiavellian in its cleverness
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
ذَكاء، مَهارَه، بَراعَه
chytrostšikovnost
dygtighedklogskab
greind, hugvit
bistrostspretnost
akıllılıkzekâ
cleverness
[ˈklevənɪs] N1. (= intelligence) → inteligencia f
2. (= skill) → habilidad f
3. (= ingenuity) → ingenio m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
cleverness
n
(= skill, ingenuity) → Klugheit f; (of person, move in chess also) → Geschicktheit f; (of idea) → Schlauheit f; (of device, machine) → Raffiniertheit f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
cleverness
[ˈklɛvənɪs] n (intelligence) → intelligenza; (deftness) → abilità; (ingenuity) → genialitàCollins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
clever
(ˈklevə) adjective1. quick to learn and understand. a clever child.
2. skilful. a clever carpenter.
3. (of things) showing cleverness. a clever idea.
ˈcleverly adverbˈcleverness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.