Thesaurus

clever

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of clever

1 showing a noteworthy use of the imagination and creativity especially in inventing

an inventor who was constantly coming up with clever devices for doing everyday chores

Synonyms of clever

artful, creative, imaginative, ingenious, innovative, inventive

Words Related to clever

adventurous, fresh, groundbreaking, novel, original, visionary

cleverish, gadgety, gimmicky

convenient, handy, neat, nifty, practical, useful

complex, sophisticated

adroit, deft, dexterous (also dextrous), expert, handsome, tricky

brainy, intelligent, sharp, smart

Near Antonyms of clever

dull, pedantic, pedestrian, stodgy

assembly-line, canned, cookie-cutter, derivative, hackneyed, unoriginal

impractical, useless

Antonyms of clever

uncreative, unimaginative

2 having or showing quickness of mind

a clever student figured out a trick to do the assignment faster

Synonyms of clever

alert, brainy, bright, brilliant, exceptional, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart

Words Related to clever

apt, ingenious, resourceful

acute, astute, discerning, heady, insightful, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sapient, savvy, wise

cerebral, erudite, genial, highbrow, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, well-read

educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained

creative, inventive, judicious, prudent, sage, sane, sapient, sensible, sound, wise

crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily

logical, rational, reasonable

Near Antonyms of clever

feebleminded, simpleminded

boobish, foolish, half-baked, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, silly

ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, nonintellectual, unacademic, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking

absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, tomfool, unwise, wacky (also whacky), zany

Antonyms of clever

airheaded, birdbrained, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey (also dopy), dorky [slang], dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless [chiefly British], half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), lunkheaded, mindless, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, unbrilliant, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless

3 skillful with the hands

the Shakers were clever artisans who created many ingenious and highly useful devices

Synonyms of clever

cunning, deft, dexterous (also dextrous), handy

Words Related to clever

agile, flexible, graceful, limber, lissome (also lissom), lithe, lithesome, nimble, spry

able, adept, capable, competent, expert, habile, masterful, masterly, proficient, qualified, skilled, skillful, sure-handed

double-jointed, loose-jointed

Near Antonyms of clever

awkward, bungling, clumsy, fumbling, gauche, gawky, graceless, klutzy, rough-hewn, stiff, stilted, uncomfortable, uneasy, ungainly, ungraceful, wooden

incapable, incompetent, inept, inexpert, maladroit

Antonyms of clever

butterfingered, ham-fisted, ham-handed, handless, heavy-handed, unhandy

4 given to or marked by mature intelligent humor

a clever joke that requires a little bit of thought on the part of the listener

Synonyms of clever

facetious, humorous, jocular, smart, witty

Words Related to clever

cerebral, highbrow, highbrowed, intellectual

bantering, frivolous, jesting, joking, joshing, teasing

antic, comic, comical, droll, farcical, funny, hysterical, laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous, riotous, risible, rollicking, screaming, sidesplitting, uproarious

amusing, diverting, entertaining

mischievous, playful, prankish

jocose, jocund, jolly, jovial, laughing, merry, mirthful, sunny

scintillating, sparkling

flip, flippant, pert, smart-aleck, smart-alecky, waggish

Near Antonyms of clever

brainless, lowbrow, stupid, witless

corny, hackney, hackneyed, lame

humorless, unamusing, uncomic, unfunny

earnest, grave, serious, serious-minded, sober, solemn, somber (or sombre)

doleful, dolorous, lachrymose, plaintive, sorry, tearful, woeful

5 having the skill and imagination to create new things

I wonder what clever person thought of the digital camera

Synonyms of clever

creative, imaginative, ingenious, innovational, innovative, innovatory, inventive, original, originative, Promethean

Words Related to clever

gifted, inspired, talented

fecund, fertile, fruitful, generative, germinal, productive, prolific

Near Antonyms of clever

imitative, uninspired

infertile, unproductive

Antonyms of clever

uncreative, unimaginative, uninventive, unoriginal

Synonym Discussion of clever

clever, adroit, cunning, ingenious mean having or showing practical wit or skill in contriving. clever stresses physical or mental quickness, deftness, or great aptitude.

- a person clever with horses

adroit often implies a skillful use of expedients to achieve one's purpose in spite of difficulties.

- an adroit negotiator

cunning implies great skill in constructing or creating.

- a filmmaker cunning in his use of special effects

ingenious suggests the power of inventing or discovering a new way of accomplishing something.

- an ingenious software engineer

synonyms see in addition intelligent

Learn More about clever

See words that rhyme with clever Dictionary: Definition of clever Spanish Central: Translation of clever Nglish: Translation of clever for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of clever for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up clever? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments

WORD OF THE DAY

de rigueur

required by fashion, etiquette, or custom

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games