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clever

adjective

Simple meaning

Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

klehver

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈklɛvɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

  2. Smart, intelligent, or witty; mentally quick or sharp.

  3. Mentally quick and resourceful; skilled at achieving what one wants in a mentally agile and inventive way.

  4. of objects or actions

    Showing mental quickness and resourcefulness.

  5. of objects or actions

    Showing inventiveness or originality; witty.

  6. ukcolloquialchiefly in the negative

    Fit and healthy; free from fatigue or illness.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

Used this way, clever is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

clever womanclever fellow

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • cleverlyadverbDerived adverb

    In a clever manner.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • clever clogsnounCompound term

    An intellectual who is ostentatiously and irritatingly knowledgeable.

  • clever dicknounCompound term

    An intellectual who is ostentatiously and irritatingly knowledgeable.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: quick to understand or learn or and devise

apt

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.