Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Cleverness |
ClevernessNoun1. The power of creative imagination. 2. Intelligence as manifested in being quick and witty. 3. The property of being ingenious; "a plot of great ingenuity"; "the cleverness of its design". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "cleverness" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1415. (references) |
Synonyms: ClevernessSynonyms: brightness (n), ingeniousness (n), ingenuity (n), inventiveness (n), smartness (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Skill | Cleverness, talent, ability, ingenuity, capacity, parts, talents, faculty, endowment, forte, turn, gift, genius; intelligence; sharpness, readiness; (activity); invention; aptness, turn for, capacity for, genius for; felicity, capability, curiosa felicitas, qualification, habilitation. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Cleverness |
| English words defined with "cleverness": Attorneyism ♦ beat ♦ circumvent ♦ dodge, dodging ♦ ingeniousness, ingenuity ♦ outfox, outsmart, outwit, overreach ♦ repartee ♦ scheme. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "cleverness": neat hack ♦ pessimising compiler, pessimizing compiler ♦ recompile the world. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Cleverness" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. German (cleverness, sharpness, shrewdness, slickness, smartness). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American (Casablanca; writing credit: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch. Based on the play 'Everybody Comes to Rick's' by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison.) Me? Books and cleverness. There are more important things: friendship and bravery (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; writing credit: Steven Kloves) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | You know I always used to think that it was cleverness that made men rich. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Euripides | Cleverness is not wisdom. |
| The bold are helpless without cleverness. | |
Harriet Beecher Stowe | The obstinacy of cleverness and reason is nothing to the obstinacy of folly and inanity. |
Henri Frederic Amiel | Cleverness is serviceable for everything, sufficient for nothing. |
| Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness. | |
Thomas H. Huxley | Patience and tenacity of purpose are worth more than twice their weight of cleverness. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | She had never boasted either beauty or cleverness. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The cleverness of man is such that he prefers to throw this hundred millions into the gutter |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Cleverness" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Cleverness" is used about 99 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 99 | 32,870 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Language | Translations for "cleverness"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | zgjuarsi (ability, acuteness, aptness, artfulness, finesse, ingeniousness, ingenuity, intelligence, mind, readiness, sagacity, shrewdness, smartness, wit), shkathtësi (adroitness, agility, craftiness, cunning, deftness, dexterity, facility, jugglery, legerity, lubricity, refractoriness, resourcefulness, sagacity, skill, smartness). (various references) | |
Arabic | مهارة (adeptness, adroitness, dexterity, expertise, expertness, know how, proficiency, skill, skillfulness, smartness), حنكة (experience, nimbleness), حذق (dexterity, know how, proficiency, smartness), ذكاء (brain, brilliance, brilliancy, cuteness, intellect, intelligence, mentality, mind, penetration, quickness, sagacity, savvy, shrewdness, smartness, understanding, wit), شطارة (slyness), براعة (address, artfulness, artifice, craft, craftiness, cunning, dexterity, facility, finesse, hand, ingeniousness, ingenuity, knack, know how, mastery, proficiency, science, skill, skillfulness, sleight of hand, tact, trick, workmanship). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | умение (ability, accomplishment, address, art, artifice, facility, faculty, know how, proficiency, quality, savoir faire, science, skill, sleight, workmanship), сполучливост, интелигентност (ability, intelligence, smartness). (various references) | |
Chinese | 聪明 (Brainy, Clever, Cuteness, SMART). (various references) | |
Czech | chytrost (brightness, craft, cunning, policy, shrewdness). (various references) | |
Finnish | viisaus (judiciousness, wisdom), sukkeluus (joke, ready wit, witticism, witty remark). (various references) | |
French | intelligence, ingéniosité, habileté, astuce, adresse. (various references) | |
German | klugheit (acuity, astuteness, brightness, cunningness, intelligence, judiciousness, knowledgeability, prudence, sagaciousness, sagacity, shrewdness, soundness, wisdom). (various references) | |
Greek | εξυπνάδα (brightness, caginess, cunning, cunningness, cuteness, hardheadedness, ingenuity, intelligence, shrewdness, smartness, wisecrack, wit), επιδεξιότησ (artfulness, skill), επιδεξιότητα (ability, adroitness, capability, deftness, dexterity, skill), ευφυία (ability, braininess, ingeniousness, ingenuity, sagaciousness, shrewdness, smartness, subtlety, wit, wittiness). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ש י ות (ingeniousness, ingenuity, perspicacity, salt, sarcasm, subtlety, wit), פקחות (intelligence, prudence, savvy, shrewdness, smartness), "שכל (intelligence, wisdom), בו ות (intelligence, sagacity, understanding, wisdom). (various references) | |
Hungarian | okosság (astuteness, brightness, discrimination, prudence, sagacity, sapience, shrewdness), intelligencia (intelligence, savvy, wit), ügyesség (accomplishment, address, adroitness, art, artfulness, artifice, artificiality, craftwork, deftness, dexterity, efficiency, expertness, facility, faculty, ingeniousness, ingenuity, knowingness, labour skill, mastery, neatness, skilfulness, skill, slickness). (various references) | |
Indonesian | kepintaran (skill), kepandaian (ability, acquirement), kecerdikan (chicanery, cunning, intelligence). (various references) | |
Italian | saggezza (sagaciousness, sageness, sapience, wisdom), intelligenza (brightness, intelligence, knowingness, mentality, mind, smartness, understanding, wit), ingegnosit (ingenuity, resource), genialit (genius, gift, talent), bravura, abilit (ability, accomplishment, adeptness, adroitness, artifice, capability, capacity, craft, cunning, expertise, expertness, ingenuity, knack, know how, mastership, mastery, proficiency, prowess, skilfulness, skill, skillfulness, sleight). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 巧み (skill). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | たくみ (artisan, carpenter, idea, means, mechanic, skill, workman), そうび" (sagacity), き"う (armor, armour, breath control, breathing exercise, calling at aport, chi kung, climate, contribution, contrivance, drafting, eccentricities, homeward voyage or flight, horseback riding, mechanism, organization, qigong, remarkable effect, returning to port, returning to school, season, setting to work, spirit cultivation, stoma, stopping at a port, traveller's journal, trick, you), しょうさい (abstinence, business ability, detail, particulars), "さい (circumstances, details, greatness and smallness, large and small matters, particulars), "うしゃ (alighting, getting down, getting off, official residence, public corporation, rear car, religious association, school building, skill, tact, the latter), "うち (arable land, arrest, back-end, confinement, craft, cunning, detailed, detention, elaborate, exquisite, heights, high ground, plateau, skill, slow and elaborate, well-known), "てさき, りはつ (haircut, intelligence, wisdom), れいり (sagacity). (various references) | |
Korean | 영리함. (various references) | |
Manx | schleiaght, kiootid (astuteness, keeness of mind, wiliness), glickid, gastid (agility, physical activity, sprightliness), aghtallys (proficiency, versatility). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | evernessclay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | perícia (craftsmanship, knack, mastership, perfection, science, skill), inteligência (adroitness, aptness, brains, intellect, intelligence, mind, sagacity, sense, smartness, solidity, understanding, uptake, wit), habilidade (ability, accomplishments, acquaintance, acquirement, address, adroitness, art, asset, come-off, competence, competency, craft, craftsmanship, cunning, dexterity, diplomacy, dodge, dodgery, facility, genius, gimmick, hand, ingenuity, knack, know-how, neatness, put-off, savvy, science, shift, skill, tact, trick). (various references) | |
Romanian | cuminţenie (discretion, reason, reasonableness, sapience, sense, seriousness, wisdom), pricepere (ability, capability, competence, fitness, gumption, ingenuousness, knack, know how, management, qualification, savvy, sconce, skill, understanding), isteţime (adroitness, cunning, cuteness, quickness, sharpness, smartness), iscusinţã (ability, address, art, astuteness, fitness, ingenuity, ingenuousness, knack, management, skill, talent), inteligenţã (brain, brain-sauce, comprehension, cuteness, ingenuity, intellect, intelligence, light, smartness, understanding, wit), ingeniozitate (cuteness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, ingenuousness, inventiveness, sagacity, skill), dibãcie (adroitness, artifice, cunning, dexterity, management, prowess, skilfulness, sleight, tactics), deşteptãciune (intelligence, quickness), abilitate (ability, address, adroitness, aptness, art, competence, craft, cunning, deftness, finesse, genius, knack, resourcefulness, skill, talent). (various references) | |
Russian | умение (ability, art, competence, knack, know how, practice, proficiency, skilfulness, skill), сообразительность (acumen, acuteness, quickness, sagacity, sconce), одаренность, ловкость (address, adroitness, agility, artfulness, craft, deftness, dexterity, finesse, hand, knack, light hand, shiftiness, sleight, smartness), искусность (ingenuity, neatness, skillfulness, subtlety). (various references) | |
Scottish | tapadh (activity, clever feat, strength, success). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | vičnost (dexterity, mastery, proficiency, skillfulness, technique), veština (ability, art, attainment, craft, cunning, excellence, facility, knack, know how, masterliness, skill, subtlety, technique, wizardry, workmanship), pamet (brain, head, intellect, mind), bistrina (brightness, clearness, limpidity, quickness, sagacity). (various references) | |
Spanish | sapiencia (sagaciousness, sageness, sapience, wisdom), listeza (gumption), ingenio (ability, apparatus, artfulness, consciousness, contraption, device, engine, erudition, foundry, genius, ingenuity, inventiveness, mill, nimbleness, plant, saltiness, talented person, wisp, wit), habilidad (ability, address, adroitness, aptitude, aptness, artifice, capacity, competence, competency, deftness, expertise, facility, habitably, know how, neatness, possibility, proficiency, prowess, savoir faire, skilfulness, skill, skillfulness, sleight), astucia (archness, artfulness, astuteness, craft, craftiness, cunning, flirtation, foxiness, guile, overreach, pawkiness, shiftiness, shrewdness, slyness, snare, subtlety, trickery, wiliness, worldly wisdom). (various references) | |
Swedish | skicklighet (address, adroitness, aptitude, art, artifice, capability, cunning, deftness, dexterity, expertise, expertness, faculty, fineness, ingenuity, knack, proficiency, prowess, savoir faire, skill, skills). (various references) | |
Turkish | zekâ (acuity, acumen, acuteness, brain, brains, cuteness, deepness, gray matter, grey matter, intelligence, mental, mentality, nous, penetration, quick wit, sagacity, sapience, senses, understanding, wit), beceriklilik (adroitness, agility, dexterity, feat, handiness, ingeniousness, skill, smartness, versatility), akıllılık (deepness, intelligence, sharpness, shrewdness, smartness, wisdom). (various references) | |
Turkmen | dьюbьlik. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | уміння (art, competence, competency, facility, know how, proficiency), умілість (artfulness, craft), спритність (ability, activity, adroitness, agility, alertness, artfulness, deftness, efficiency, knack, nimbleness, policy, readiness, sleight), обдарованість (ability, aptitude, aptness, capability, genius), здібність (ability, aptitude, aptness, brightness, bump, capability, faculty, felicity, talent, turn, verve). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự thông minh sự t i giỏi sự thần tình, sự t i tình, sự lanh lợi (agility, readiness, subtilty, subtlety). (various references) | |
Welsh | medrusrwydd (skill, skillfulness). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | astutia, astutiam, astutias, sollertia. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | engin. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "cleverness": clevernesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Cleverness" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: clevernesses. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "cleverness" (pronounced kle"vernus) |
| 5 | -v er n u s | cavernous, governess. |
| 4 | -er n u s | bitterness, eagerness, otherness, tenderness, togetherness, wilderness. |
| 3 | -n u s | abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, alertness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, arbitrariness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, callousness, calmness, carelessness, casualness, cautiousness, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleanness, closeness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, contrariness, Conus, coolness, correctness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, disingenuousness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, drunkenness, dryness, dullness, earnestness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, evenness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, fickleness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, forthrightness, foulness, fractiousness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, fullness, funniness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, graciousness, greatness, greenness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, helplessness, highness, hoarseness, holiness, homelessness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, hopelessness, humanness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, joblessness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, lawlessness, laziness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, neatness, nervousness, newness, niceness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, orderliness, outrageousness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, playfulness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, pompousness, possessiveness, powerlessness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, quietness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, reasonableness, rebelliousness, recklessness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restlessness, restrictiveness, richness, righteousness, rightness, riskiness, robustness, roominess, roughness, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, ruthlessness, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, selflessness, sensitiveness, separateness, seriousness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, softness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steadiness, steepness, sternness, stiffness, stillness, stinginess, stoutness, strangeness, stubbornness, sturdiness, suddenness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tardiness, tartness, tastiness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, tightness, timeliness, tiredness, toughness, trustworthiness, truthfulness, ugliness, unconsciousness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, vastness, venous, viciousness, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weightlessness, weirdness, wellness, wetness, whiteness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, wistfulness, witness, wonderfulness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-e-l-n-r-s-s-v" | |
-1 letter: nerveless. | |
-3 letters: censers, creeses, crenels, elevens, essence, eveners, releves, screens, secerns, serenes, sleeves, veneers. | |
-4 letters: censer, censes, clever, creels, creese, crenel, eleven, elvers, evener, lenses, lessee, lessen, lesser, levees, levers, nerves, recess, reeves, releve, reseen, resees, revels, scenes, screen, screes, secern, selves, serene, serves, sevens, severe, severs, sleeve, sneers, veneer, verses, vessel. | |
-5 letters: cense. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-e-l-n-r-s-s-v" | |
+2 letters: clevernesses. | |
+3 letters: reclusiveness. | |
+4 letters: reflectiveness, verticalnesses. | |
+5 letters: convertibleness, irrevocableness, lucrativenesses, reclusivenesses, serviceableness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
