Word: clever Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From East Anglian dialectal English cliver (“expert at seizing”), from Middle English cliver (“tenacious”). * perhaps from Old English *clifer, clibbor (“clinging”); * or perhaps from Dutch, Low German, or East/Saterland Frisian (compare kluftich (“clever, prudent”), probably derived from Proto-West Germanic *kleuban (“to cleave, split”)); * or dialectal Norwegian klover (“ready, skillful”), itself borrowed from Middle Low German klever, related to kleven (“to stick”), from Old Saxon klibōn, from Proto-West Germanic *klibēn, related to the Old English word above; * possibly influenced by Old English clifer (“claw, hand”) (compare clawian (“to claw”)). Related to cleave. Perhaps influenced by Welsh celfydd (“talented, dexterous, expert”). Compare typologically Czech chytrý, Russian хи́трый (xítryj) (akin to хвата́ть (xvatátʹ)), also note схва́тывать на лету́ (sxvátyvatʹ na letú). Pronunciation: /ˈklɛv.ə/, /ˈklɛv.ɚ/ 1. Nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept. Example: My dad is quite clever with his hands, especially at carpentry. Example: a. 1898, Francis James Child (collator), Child's Ballads, 198: "Bonny John Seton", The Highland men, they're clever men At handling sword and shield, 2. Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent. Example: The cleverest and most prolific inventors, such as Reiner Knizia (who lives in England) are nerdy superstars. Euro (also “German-style”) games must not be confused with “Ameritrash” games, which generally involve high drama and employ plastic pieces, though arguing over what the difference is seems to be gamers' second-favourite pastime. 3. Mentally quick and resourceful; skilled at achieving what one wants in a mentally agile and inventive way. Example: clever like a fox Example: With a clever lawyer, she could easily be acquitted. 4. Smart, intelligent, or witty; mentally quick or sharp. Example: And so make life, death, and that vast forever / One grand, sweet song. Example: Lord Macaulay has said of Bunyan: “though there were many clever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds. One of these minds produced ‘The Paradise Lost;’ the other, ‘The Pilgrim's Progress.’” 5. Sane; in one's right mind. Labels: archaic Example: He was not clever, poor fellow, he did not know what questions to ask; he asked the same questions again and again. He continued to show his own troubled thoughts, and the vague dread in his mind, […] 6. Showing mental quickness and resourcefulness. Example: This is a simple but clever trick to solve the problem. Example: Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today. 7. Showing inventiveness or originality; witty. Example: Mr. Woodhouse was almost as much interested in the business as the girls, and tried very often to recollect something worth their putting in. "So many clever riddles as there used to be when he was young--he wondered he could not remember them! but he hoped he should in time." And it always ended in "Kitty, a fair but frozen maid." Example: I felt they expected me to say clever things, and I never could think of any till after the party was over. 8. Fit and healthy; free from fatigue or illness. Labels: UK, colloquial Example: But at that moment I knew it was all over for me, I had never thought that this day would come, but it had and I was not feeling too clever. In fact I had to escape to a nearby toilet to be sick. Example: Right, and no, because the solicitor has told her that Walter's legs didn't look too clever, which, apparently, everyone's putting down to a fall, thankfully. 9. Good-natured; obliging. Labels: US, dated 10. Possessing magical abilities. Example: When a clever man is out hunting and comes across the tracks of, say, a kangaroo, he follows them along and talks to the footprints all the time for the purpose of injecting magic into the animal which made them. Example: Prior to this, the two women, who were “clever,” and possessed a certain amount of magical “power,”[…]. 11. Fit; suitable; having propriety. Labels: obsolete Example: 18th c, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope (later lines), Imitation of Horace, 1852, Charles Knight (collator), Half-hours with the Best Authors, Volume 4, page 188, I can't but think 'twould sound more clever, To me and to my heirs forever. 12. Well-shaped; handsome. Labels: obsolete Example: Tho' the Girl vvas a tight, clever VVench as any vvas, and thro' her pale Looks, you might diſcern Spirit and Vivacity, vvhich made her not indeed a perfect Beauty, but ſomething that vvas agreeable.