All of Laptsev went to stare at the bride-to-be—she was no beauty, but everyone could see that she was clever, sophisticated …—Isaac Bashevis Singer, New Yorker, 29 Sept. 2003… the three of them may give Gray Davis, who was too clever for his own good, his comeuppance.—Garrison Keillor, Time, 25 Aug. 2003Some thought he had no redeeming value whatsoever. A sociopath. A clever manipulator …—Louise Erdrich, New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2002Those who can't write poetry, write clever letters to the editor. Those who can't write clever letters to the editor, write angry letters to the editor.—Matt Groening, Utne Reader, November/December 1987The old lady was clever enough and he thought that if she had started from any of the right premises, more might have been expected of her.—Flannery O'Connor, Everything That Rises Must Converge, 1967
Some cats are clever enough to figure out how to operate doorknobs.
That's the cleverest idea I've heard yet!
She found a clever hiding place for the letter.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Walz’s work relies on manipulating online databases, but, like the work of MSCHF, his most clever projects bleed into the real world.—Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2024 For port days, there are shore excursions that cater to families, and the rooms have several clever arrangements like a bunk that comes out of the ceiling.—Esther Carlstone, Parents, 18 Dec. 2024 The deadlock was finally broken just before half-time as a clever pass from Yildiz found Vlahovic, who controlled it on the turn and slotted it between the ‘keeper’s legs.—Adam Digby, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2024 This sequence, the show’s comic high point, represents at once a deft piece of stagecraft that, in the cacophony of angry comments projected behind the heads of Don and company, becomes a clever comic dissection of the public square in the age of Zoom.—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 17 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for clever
Word History
Etymology
Middle English cliver, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish dialect kløver alert, skillful
Share