clev·er   (klěv'ər)    adj.   clev·er·er, clev·er·est Mentally quick and original; bright. Nimble with the hands or body; dexterous. Exhibiting quick-wittedness: a clever story. New England Easily managed; docile: "Oxen must be pretty clever to be bossed around the way they are" (Dialect Notes). New England Affable but not especially smart. Chiefly Southern U.S. Good-natured; amiable. See Regional Note at ugly. [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). Ingenious implies originality and inventiveness: "an ingenious solution to the storage problem" (Linda Greider). Shrewd emphasizes mental astuteness and practical understanding: "a woman of shrewd intellect" (Leslie Stephen). 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.

Clever

Clev"er\, a. [Origin uncertain. Cf. OE. cliver eager, AS. clyfer (in comp.) cloven; or clifer a claw, perh. connected with E. cleave to divide, split, the meaning of E. clever perh. coming from the idea of grasping, seizing (with the mind).]

1. Possessing quickness of intellect, skill, dexterity, talent, or adroitness; expert.

Though there were many clever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds. --Macaulay.

Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever. --C. Kingsley.

2. Showing skill or adroitness in the doer or former; as, a clever speech; a clever trick. --Byron.

3. Having fitness, propriety, or suitableness.

"T would sound more clever To me and to my heirs forever. --Swift.

4. Well-shaped; handsome. "The girl was a tight, clever wench as any was." --Arbuthnot.

5. Good-natured; obliging. [U. S.]

Syn: See Smart.

clever