Adjacent Words

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others; "a cagey lawyer"; "too clever to be sound" [syn: cagey, cagy, canny, clever]
2: mentally quick and resourceful; "an apt pupil"; "you are a clever man...you reason well and your wit is bold"-Bram Stoker [syn: apt, clever]
3: showing inventiveness and skill; "a clever gadget"; "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success"; "an ingenious solution to the problem" [syn: clever, cunning, ingenious]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English cliver, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish dialect kl๘ver alert, skillful Date: circa 1595 1. a. skillful or adroit in using the hands or body ; nimble <clever fingers> b. mentally quick and resourceful <a clever young lawyer> 2. marked by wit or ingenuity <a clever solution> <a clever idea> 3. dialect a. good b. easy to use or handle • cleverish adjective • cleverly adverb • cleverness noun Synonyms: clever, adroit, cunning, ingenious mean having or showing practical wit or skill in contriving. clever stresses physical or mental quickness, deftness, or great aptitude <a person clever with horses>. adroit often implies a skillful use of expedients to achieve one's purpose in spite of difficulties <an adroit negotiator>. cunning implies great skill in constructing or creating <a filmmaker cunning in his use of special effects>. ingenious suggests the power of inventing or discovering a new way of accomplishing something <an ingenious software engineer>. Synonym: see in addition intelligent.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (cleverer, cleverest) 1 skilful, talented; quick to understand and learn. 2 adroit, dextrous. 3 (of the doer or the thing done) ingenious, cunning. Phrases and idioms: clever Dick (or clogs etc.) colloq. a person who is or purports to be smart or knowing. not too clever Austral. colloq. unwell, indisposed. Derivatives: cleverly adv. cleverness n. Etymology: ME, = adroit: perh. rel. to CLEAVE(2), with sense 'apt to seize'

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Clever Clev"er, a. [Origin uncertain. Cf. OE. cliver eager, AS. clyfer (in comp.) cloven; or clifer a claw, perh. connected with E. cleave to divide, split, the meaning of E. clever perh. coming from the idea of grasping, seizing (with the mind).] 1. Possessing quickness of intellect, skill, dexterity, talent, or adroitness; expert. Though there were many clever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds. --Macaulay. Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever. --C. Kingsley. 2. Showing skill or adroitness in the doer or former; as, a clever speech; a clever trick. --Byron. 3. Having fitness, propriety, or suitableness. ``T would sound more clever To me and to my heirs forever. --Swift. 4. Well-shaped; handsome. ``The girl was a tight, clever wench as any was.'' --Arbuthnot. 5. Good-natured; obliging. [U. S.] Syn: See Smart.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cleverer, cleverest) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Someone who is clever is intelligent and able to understand things easily or plan things well. He's a very clever man... My sister was always a lot cleverer than I was... ADJ • cleverly She would cleverly pick up on what I said. ADV • cleverness Her cleverness seems to get in the way of her emotions. N-UNCOUNT 2. A clever idea, book, or invention is extremely effective and shows the skill of the people involved. ...a clever and gripping novel. ...this clever new gadget. = ingenious ADJ: usu ADJ n • cleverly ...a cleverly designed swimsuit. ADV: ADV -ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Dexterous, skilful, apt, ingenious, handy, ready, quick, smart, expert, adroit, capable. 2. Able, gifted, talented, apt.

Moby Thesaurus

Attic, Daedalian, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, able, acute, adept, adroit, agile, alert, all-around, amusing, apt, arch, artful, artistic, astute, authoritative, biting, brainy, bravura, bright, brilliant, cagey, canny, capable, clean, competent, coordinated, coruscating, crack, crackerjack, crafty, creative, cunning, cute, daedal, dazzling, deceitful, deep, deep-laid, deft, designing, dexterous, dextrous, diplomatic, discerning, docile, droll, educable, entertaining, excellent, expert, facetious, facile, fanciful, fancy, feline, formable, foxy, funny, gifted, good, goodish, graceful, guileful, handy, humorous, humorsome, imaginative, impressionable, ingenious, insidious, instructable, intelligent, inventive, jesting, jocose, jocular, joking, joky, joshing, keen, keen-witted, knowing, laughable, magisterial, malleable, many-sided, masterful, masterly, moldable, mordant, motivated, neat, neat-handed, nimble, nimble-witted, no dumbbell, no mean, not born yesterday, original, pawky, perceptive, piquant, plastic, pleasing, pliable, pointed, politic, pretty, professional, proficient, prompt, pungent, qualified, quick, quick-thinking, quick-witted, quite some, racy, rapier-like, ready, receptive, resourceful, ripe for instruction, risible, sagacious, sage, salt, salty, scheming, schoolable, scintillating, serpentine, sharp, sharp-witted, shifty, shrewd, skilled, skillful, slick, slim, slippery, sly, smart, smooth, snaky, sneaky, some, sophistical, sparkling, sprightly, statesmanlike, stealthy, steel-trap, strategic, stylish, subtile, subtle, supple, susceptible, tactful, tactical, talented, teachable, the compleat, the complete, thirsty for knowledge, trainable, trickish, tricksy, tricky, versatile, virtuoso, vulpine, wary, well-considered, well-contrived, well-designed, well-done, well-invented, well-laid, well-planned, well-reasoned, well-thought-out, well-weighed, whimsical, wicked, willing, wily, wise, witty, workmanlike