How to use clever in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective

Clever means nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept. Example: “My dad is quite clever with his hands, especially at carpentry.”

Examples of clever by meaning

adjectiveNimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept.

My dad is quite clever with his hands, especially at carpentry.

adjectiveQuick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

The cleverest and most prolific inventors, such as Reiner Knizia (who lives in England) are nerdy superstars.2008 August 28, “German recreation: An affinity for rules?”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 02 Feb 2021

adjectiveMentally quick and resourceful; skilled at achieving what one wants in a mentally agile and inventive way.

clever like a fox
With a clever lawyer, she could easily be acquitted.

adjectiveShowing mental quickness and resourcefulness.

This is a simple but clever trick to solve the problem.
Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans.2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70

adjectiveShowing inventiveness or originality; witty.

I felt they expected me to say clever things, and I never could think of any till after the party was over.1919, William Somerset Maugham, chapter III, in The Moon and Sixpence
Just before the break Villa were denied a second goal when Bent had the ball in the net, although he was ruled offside after Jean Makoun's clever pass.2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport
The Rosenbloom Loop is a clever little device, but it’s an even more clever symbol of the role that discipline plays in the creation of illusion: the persistence of vision that makes sequential still images appear to move.2014 April 11, Ron Charles, “David Grand’s ‘Mount Terminus’”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 190, number 18, page 37

adjectiveFit and healthy; free from fatigue or illness.

But at that moment I knew it was all over for me, I had never thought that this day would come, but it had and I was not feeling too clever.2010, Colin Ross, Death of the Docks, page 196
Right, and no, because the solicitor has told her that Walter's legs didn't look too clever, which, apparently, everyone's putting down to a fall, thankfully.2019, Neil Forsyth, 30:07 from the start, in Guilt, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Jake McCall (Jamie Sives)

adjectivePossessing magical abilities.

When a clever man is out hunting and comes across the tracks of, say, a kangaroo, he follows them along and talks to the footprints all the time for the purpose of injecting magic into the animal which made them.1904, Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, volume XXXVIII, page 255
Fred is the clever fellow or tribal doctor who practises with the Kuku-Yalanji people.1991, John & Sue Erbacher, Aborigines of the Rainforest

More sentences with clever

Clever touches like this are what make her such a brilliant writer.From the entry touch
Sure he's clever, but I wouldn't go so far as to call him a genius.From the entry go so far as
Being as you're so clever, why don't you fix it yourself?From the entry being as
She seems a clever girl, your Isabel.From the entry she
He plays dumb, but actually he's very clever.From the entry play
Her clever gambit gave her an advantage.From the entry gambit
He countered her insult with a clever retort.From the entry retort
My mom has a clever doodad for peeling oranges.From the entry doodad
The book had a clever plot, but lacked readability.From the entry readability
Little Miss Smartyboots is too clever by half.From the entry by half
I thought it was clever the director cast the same woman to play both the Wicked Witch and Prince Charming's fairy godmother.From the entry fairy godmother
We've got a clever 'un here!From the entry 'un
A clever gambler wagers just enough to get ahead of the game, but not so much that he could be knocked out.From the entry wagers
Clever of them to get Vermeer to serve as interior set designer.2026 January 31, Janan Ganesh, “The Hamnet wars”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry tankard
It was clever and funny but insular: a hall of mirrors about authors and the publishing industry.2023 July 9, Alexandra Jacobs, “Grazed and Confused: In ‘The Vegan,’ a Guilty Hedge Funder Eats His Feelings”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry hall of mirrors
You dumped this funny, clever, successful accountant for this jobless human bin fire?2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Yas (Vivian Oparah). From the entry bin fire
People who are very rich or very clever, or both, sometimes believe weird things.2023 May 10, Anjana Ahuja, “We need to examine the beliefs of today’s tech luminaries”, in Financial Times. From the entry TESCREAL
Metroidvanias are an inherently clever genre, and the cleverness can sometimes sap a little of the energy.2019 June 18, Christian Donlan, “Gato Roboto review - a pet-sized Metroidvania filled with delights”, in Eurogamer. From the entry Metroidvania
It should be possible for man—as a clever and superadaptable species—to exploit without being exploited.2018, Brian Stableford, The Florians: Daedalus Mission 1. From the entry superadaptable
Isaiah Thomas is very clever, very crafty getting to the paint and finishing in the paint.2016 April 20, “Hawks not giving Celtics anything in the paint”, in Comcast SportsNet New England. From the entry paint
She was plain Carrie, the librarian, wishing she could say something snappy and clever.2016, Linda Goodnight, The Rain Sparrow, →ISBN. From the entry zinger
And they have a thing about IQ tests showing that white people are cleverer than others.2016 August 25, Giles Fraser, “The alt right is old racism for the tech-savvy generation”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian…. From the entry 2.0
But the most popular apps seek to help their users filter possible mates using clever technology.2016 February 13, “With dating apps, good matches need good data”, in Star Tribune, volume XXXIV, number 319, published 17 February 2016…. From the entry Tinderite
An impressionistic and lighthearted rendering of a clever, mildly provocative idea.2016 March 24, Leon Neyfakh, “In Defense of the Trend Piece”, in Slate, →ISSN. From the entry trend piece
“Don't you like the word cassolette, Julian?” He supposed Thayer thought she was being clever.2015, Peter Golden, Wherever There Is Light: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 234. From the entry cassolette
I can't believe he's that clever to have boarded a boat or an aeroplane without being spotted.2014, Michael Pekenham, Love Thine Enemy. From the entry lay-bye
To an audience a clever nub can pass for Shakespeare himself.2013, Heathcote Williams, Nubbing, Cold Turkey Press. From the entry nub

Meaning of clever

adjective Nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept.
adjective Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.
adjective Mentally quick and resourceful; skilled at achieving what one wants in a mentally agile and inventive way.

Full definition of clever

Questions about clever in a sentence

How do you use clever in a sentence?: Clever is used as an adjective. For example: “My dad is quite clever with his hands, especially at carpentry.”
What is a short sentence with clever?: “clever like a fox”
What does clever mean?: Clever means nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept.

Adapted from Wiktionary: clever (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use clever in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/clever. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.