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.
As in years past, there was plenty of heated debate, some clever campaigning on social media, a last-minute push for votes from A-list significant others and a few races that were neck-and-neck right up until the last ballot was cast.—Alex Apatoff, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025 This includes thinking vertically and adding hooks to dangle gear on wall space or finding ways to pop in clever items, like storage benches, that double as organizational features and help eliminate dust buildup.—Michelle Mastro, Architectural Digest, 23 Oct. 2025 And, though users can make the most of lackluster AI moderation (Grok Imagine) or figure out clever ways to circumvent guardrails (Sora) in order to misrepresent famous people, the greater danger probably comes from videos that purport to capture events involving unknown parties.—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2025 Where, however, the 32-year-old New York City mayoral candidate seems to have provided some (at the very least) clever instruction to his party is in his messaging.—Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for clever
Word History
Etymology
Middle English cliver, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish dialect kløver alert, skillful
Share