adj. 1
Nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept.
My dad is quite clever with his hands, especially at carpentry.
adj. 2
Mentally quick and resourceful; skilled at achieving what one wants in a mentally agile and inventive way.
With a clever lawyer, she could easily be acquitted.
adj. 3
Smart, intelligent, or witty; mentally quick or sharp.
And so make life, death, and that vast forever / One grand, sweet song.
adj. 4
Possessing magical abilities.

Related words

Word family: cleverly cleverness
Phrases: clever dick clever arse

Choose the right word

Clever, Able, Gifted or Talented?

Clever, as used in England, especially implies an aptitude for study or learning, and for excellent tho not preeminent mental achievement. The discriminating use of such words as able, gifted, talented, etc., is greatly preferable to an excessive use of the word clever.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

intelligent Tom is so intelligent that he stands out in class.
shrewd I know that Tom is a very shrewd businessman.
canny He was a skilled strategist and canny political operator.
talented He is the only one of my friends that is talented.
adroit Kaya was rather adroit at managing conflicts between her employees.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
clever		rising
intelligent		steady
shrewd		steady
canny		rising
talented		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: apt¹
4 letters: good¹, able², cute¹, keen¹, deft¹
5 letters: ready², quick¹, smart¹, sharp¹, handy², canny², cagey²
6 letters: bright¹, expert², gifted², crafty², shrewd¹, brainy², adroit²
7 letters: knowing², capable³, magical³, cunning², skilful
8 letters: talented³, skillful², masterly³, dextrous²
9 letters: ingenious³, inventive³, dexterous
10 letters: diplomatic⁴
11 letters: intelligent⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (able² = 2 syllables).