Adjective

(en-adj)

Nimble with hands or body; skillful; adept.

* (Francis James Child) (collator), , 198: "Bonny John Seton",

The Highland men, they're clever men / At handling sword and shield,

Resourceful, sometimes to the point of cunning.

* 1890 , (Joseph Jacobs) (collator), '', ''English Fairy Tales ,

The youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and she was very clever . She noticed that before they went to bed the giant put straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own lassies' necks, he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall asleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then she slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her sisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She then put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself and her sisters, and lay down.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.

Smart, intelligent, or witty; mentally quick or sharp.

* 1860 , (John Timbs), School-Days of Eminent Men , page 177,

has said of Bunyan: “though there were many clever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenth century, there were only two great creative minds. One of these minds produced ‘The Paradise Lost;’ the other, ‘The Pilgrim's Progress.’”

* 1912', (Fyodor Dostoevsky), (Constance Garnett) (translator), '''', Book V, Chapter 7: "It's Always Worth While Speaking to a ' Clever Man",

I would have sent Alyosha, but what use is Alyosha in a thing like that? I send you just because you are a clever fellow. Do you suppose I don't see that? You know nothing about timber, but you've got an eye.

* (rfdate), (Charles Kingsley), ,

Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever ; / Do noble things, not dream them all day long: / And so make life, death, and that vast forever / One grand, sweet song.

Showing inventiveness or originality; witty.

* 1816 , (Jane Austen), , Volume 1, Chapter 9,

Mr. Woodhouse was almost as much interested in the business as the girls, and tried very often to recollect something worth their putting in. "So many clever riddles as there used to be when he was young--he wondered he could not remember them! but he hoped he should in time." And it always ended in "Kitty, a fair but frozen maid."

* 1919 , , Chapter III,

I felt they expected me to say clever things, and I never could think of any till after the party was over.

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=April 10, author=Alistair Magowan, work=BBC Sport

, title= Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle , passage=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.}}

*{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-11, author= Ron Charles

, volume=190, issue=18, page=37, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= David Grand’s ‘Mount Terminus’ , passage=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.}}

Possessing magical abilities.

* 1904 , Journal & Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Vol. XXXVIII, page 255,

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.

* 1947 , Oceania, Volumes 16-17, page 330,

Prior to this, the two women, who were “clever ,” and possessed a certain amount of magical “power,”.

* 1991 , John & Sue Erbacher, Aborigines of the Rainforest ,

Fred is the clever fellow or tribal doctor who practises with the Kuku-Yalanji people. The tribal doctor’s work includes curing sickness, finding out the causes of death, predicting the future and making and stopping rain.

(label) Fit; suitable; having propriety.

* (Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)

'Twould sound more clever / To me and to my heirs forever.

(label) Well-shaped; handsome.

* (John Arbuthnot) (1667-1735)

The girl was a tight, clever wench as any was.

Good-natured; obliging.

Adjective

(er)

Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.

*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)

*:The outlines must be smooth , imperceptible to the touch, and even, without eminence or cavities.

*

*:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable,.

*{{quote-book, year=2005, author=Lesley Brown, title=Sophist, extra=, by=(Plato)

, passage=Teaching that’s done by talking seems to have one rough path and another part which is smoother .}}

Without difficulty, problems, or unexpected consequences or incidents.

:

* 2011 , Phil McNulty, Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England :

*:England's path to Poland and Ukraine next summer looked to be a smooth one as goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent gave them a comfortable lead after 31 minutes.

Bland; glib.

*(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)

*:This smooth discourse and mild behavior oft / Conceal a traitor.

*{{quote-book, year=1912, author=(Gustavus Myers), title= History of the Supreme Court of the United States, page=133

, passage=This feeling, grounded on the experience of centuries of oppression, was not to be allayed by smooth explanations on the part of the advocates of the Constitution.}}

Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; fluent.

*(John Milton) (1608-1674)

*:the only smooth poet of those times

*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)

*:Waller was smooth ; but Dryden taught to join / The varying verse, the full-resounding line.

*(John Gay) (1685-1732)

*:When sage Minerva rose, / From her sweet lips smooth elocution flows.

(lb) Suave; sophisticated.

*{{quote-book, year=2003, author=T. Lewis Humphrey, isbn=0595272606, title= The Price of Love, page=279

, passage=He was so smooth and handsome. He knew just what to say and when to say it.}}

(lb) Natural; unconstrained.

*{{quote-book, year=2006, author=Mary Kay Moskal and Camille Blachowicz, title= Reading for Fluency, isbn=1593852649, page=3

, passage=In order for a reading to be smooth and effortless, readers must be able to recognize and read words accurately, automatically, and quickly.}}

(lb) Unbroken.

*{{quote-book, year=1927, author=United States (National Guard Bureau), title= Manual of Basic Training and Standards of Proficiency for the National Guard

, page=181 , passage=Demonstrate first by the numbers and then as one smooth movement.}}

Placid, calm.

*, title= An American Cruiser in the East, page=47

, passage=As we worked to the southward, we picked up fair weather, and enjoyed smooth seas and pleasant skies.}}

(lb) Lacking projections or indentations; not serrated.

*{{quote-book, year=1994, author=Robert E. Swanson, isbn=0801845564, title= A Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Southern Appalachians, page=8

, passage=A leaf having a smooth margin, without teeth or indentations of any kind, is called entire.}}

*{{quote-book, year=1997, author=Christopher Dickey, isbn=0684842009, title= Innocent Blood: A Novel, page=91

, passage=Out of the handles flipped the smooth blade and the serrated blade, which was dangerously sharp, the flathead screwdrivers, the Phillips screwdriver, the can opener, the awl.}}

(lb) Not grainy; having an even texture.

*{{quote-book, year=1997, author=Lou Seibert Pappas, isbn=0811815730, title= Sorbets and Ice Creams, page=19

, passage=A compact and stylish design, it produces 1 generous quart of excellent, smooth ice cream in 20 to 25 minutes.}}

(lb) Having a pleasantly rounded flavor; neither rough nor astringent.

*{{quote-book, year=2002, author=Candace Irvin, isbn=0373079362, title= For His Eyes Only, page=9

, passage=The coffee was smooth , so smooth she took another sip.}}

Having derivatives of all finite orders at all points within the function’s domain.

*{{quote-book, year=2003, author=Eric W. Weisstein, isbn=1584883472, title= CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics, page=419

, passage=Any ANALYTIC FUNCTION is smooth . But a smooth function is not necessarily analytic.}}

Lacking marked aspiration.

*{{quote-book, year=1830, author=Benjamin Franklin Fisk, title= A Grammar of the Greek Language, page=5

, passage=