cleverness

Everyday

1. Cleverness is being clever: being quick to learn, understand and think of good ideas. tree →
2. Cleverness can also mean being tricky or cunning. tree →

In the lessons

In stories cleverness often wins over strength: a small character uses cleverness to beat a giant. In school, cleverness is praised, but effort matters too. Phrases: through cleverness, show cleverness, the cleverness of the plan.

Examples

• The mouse escaped from the cat through cleverness. tree →
• Everyone admired the cleverness of her idea. tree →
• His cleverness helped the team win the quiz. tree →
• Cleverness is useful, but kindness matters more. tree →
• The cleverness of the trick surprised us all. tree →
• In fairy tales, the youngest child often wins by cleverness. tree →
• And he sat and scratched his head, and thought about his own cleverness. tree →

Note

Uncountable: no «a», no plural. Built from «clever» + «-ness». Close in meaning to «intelligence» and «wit»; «cunning» suggests tricking people.