clever dick
noun
Simple meaning
Someone who annoyingly tries too hard to impress with their cleverness.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
klehverdikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈklɛvɚdɪk
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
informalchiefly british
A person who annoyingly tries too hard to impress with their cleverness.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A person who annoyingly tries too hard to impress with their cleverness.
Used this way, clever dick is a word tied to one variety of English with a clearly unfavourable pull. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Regional
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Usage note
Mainly used in British English, so it may read as unusual elsewhere.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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