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.

Common collocations

• too clever Adverb + adjective

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…

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images