clever

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Quick to learn and understand things; intelligent.

   She is a clever student who learns quickly.

2. 2
   adj

   Showing skill and original thinking in design or invention.

   That's a clever little gadget for opening jars.

3. 3
   adj

   Good at using your hands to do things skilfully.

   My dad is quite clever with his hands, especially at carpentry.

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 E…

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