[klev-er] 
| 1. | mentally bright; having sharp or quick intelligence; able. |
| 2. | superficially skillful, witty, or original in character or construction; facile: It was an amusing, clever play, but of no lasting value. |
| 3. | showing inventiveness or originality; ingenious: His clever device was the first to solve the problem. |
| 4. | adroit with the hands or body; dexterous or nimble. |
| 5. | Older Use.
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| clev·er (klěv'ər) adj. clev·er·er, clev·er·est
[Middle English cliver; akin to East Frisian klifer, klüfer; see gleubh- in Indo-European roots.] clev'er·ly adv., clev'er·ness n. Synonyms: These adjectives refer to mental adroitness or to practical ingenuity and skill. Clever is the most comprehensive: "Everybody's family doctor was remarkably clever, and was understood to have immeasurable skill in the management and training of the most skittish or vicious diseases" (George Eliot). In the 17th and 18th centuries, in addition to its basic sense of "able to use the brain readily and effectively," the word clever acquired a constellation of imprecise but generally positive senses in regional British speech: "clean-limbed and handsome," "neat and convenient to use," and "of an agreeable disposition." Some of these British regional senses, brought over when America was colonized, are still found in American regional speech, as in the South, where clever can mean "good-natured, amiable" in old-fashioned speech. The speech of New England extends the meaning "good-natured" to animals in the specific sense of "easily managed, docile." Perhaps it was the association with animals that gave rise to another meaning, "affable but not especially smart," applicable to people when used in old-fashioned New England dialects. |
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