clev·er / ˈklevər/ • adj. (clev·er·er, clev·er·est) quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent. ∎  skilled at doing or achieving something; talented: she is clever with her hands. ∎  (of a thing, action, or idea) showing intelligence or skill; ingenious. ∎  superficially ingenious or witty: a story too clever to be real. ∎ dated inf. sensible; well-advised: it wasn't too clever, leaving Dolly alone.DERIVATIVES: clev·er·ly adv.clev·er·ness n.ORIGIN: Middle English (in the sense ‘quick to catch hold,’ only recorded in this period): perhaps of Dutch or Low German origin, and related to cleave² . In the late 16th cent. the term came to mean (probably through dialect use) ‘manually skillful’; the sense ‘possessing mental agility’ dates from the early 18th cent.

clever adroit, dexterous (XIII?) XVI; (dial.) nimble, active; lithe, handsome XVII; (dial.) convenient, agreeable, nice XVIII. The context of the earliest ex. (in the form cliuer) suggests etym. connection with †cliver claw, as if ‘sharp to seize’; rare Sc. cleverous apt to seize, similarly assoc. with cluik claw, precedes the earliest ex. of clever in the mod. period. Cf. LG. klöver, klever, MDu. klever sprightly, smart.