different between clever vs oblique

English

Etymology

From East Anglian dialectal English cliver (“expert at seizing”), from Middle English cliver (“tenacious”), perhaps from Old English *clifer, clibbor (“clinging”), or perhaps from East Frisian (compare Saterland Frisian kluftich), or dialectal Norwegian klover (“ready, skillful”); possibly influenced by Old English clifer (“claw, hand”). Related to cleave. Perhaps influenced by Welsh celfydd (“talented, dexterous, expert”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?kl?v?/
• Rhymes: -?v?(r)
• Hyphenation: clev?er

Adjective

clever (comparative cleverer or more clever, superlative cleverest or most clever)

1. Nimble with hands or body; skillful; adept.
   • a. 1898, Francis James Child (collator), Child's Ballads, 198: "Bonny John Seton",

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

2. Resourceful, sometimes to the point of cunning.
   • 1890, Joseph Jacobs (collator), Molly Whuppie, 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.
3. Smart, intelligent, or witty; mentally quick or sharp.
   • 19th c, Charles Kingsley, A Farewell,

     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.

   • 1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett (translator), The Brothers Karamazov, 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.

4. Showing inventiveness or originality; witty.
5. (anthropology, of an Aboriginal Australian) 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,” […] .
6. (obsolete) Fit; suitable; having propriety.
   • 18th c, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope (later lines), Imitation of Horace, 1852, Charles Knight (collator), Half-hours with the Best Authors, Volume 4, page 188,

     I can't but think 'twould sound more clever, / To me and to my heirs forever.

7. (obsolete) Well-shaped; handsome.
   • 1712, John Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull, Undated modern edition, Library of Alexandria, unnumbered page,

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

8. (US, dated) Good-natured; obliging.
9. (Britain, colloquial) Fit and healthy; free from fatigue or illness.

Synonyms

• (smart, intelligent or witty): quick-witted, sharp-witted
  • See also Thesaurus:intelligent
• (resourceful, perhaps cunning): cunning, street-smart
• (nimble or skillful): adroit, talented
• (showing inventiveness): ingenious
• (possessing magical powers): magical

Antonyms

• (smart, intelligent or witty): dull, stupid
• (resourceful, perhaps cunning): ineffectual, naive
• (nimble or skillful): clumsy
• (showing inventiveness):
• (possessing magical powers): natural

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• clever in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• clever in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• clever at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Clerve

German

Etymology

From English clever.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?kl?v?]
• Hyphenation: cle?ver

Adjective

clever (comparative cleverer or clevrer, superlative am cleversten)

1. clever

Declension

Further reading

• “clever” in Duden online

Middle English

Noun

clever

1. Alternative form of clevere

English

Etymology

From Middle French oblique, from Latin obl?quus (also spelled obl?cus) (“slanting, sideways, indirect, envious”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??bli?k/
• IPA^(key): /o??bli?k/
• (US military command) IPA^(key): /??b?laik/
• Rhymes: -i?k
• Hyphenation: ob?lique

Adjective

oblique (comparative obliquer, superlative obliquest)

1. Not erect or perpendicular; not parallel to, or at right angles from, the base

   Synonyms: aslant, askew, slanting, inclined
2. Not straightforward; obscure or confusing
3. disingenuous; underhand; morally corrupt
4. Not direct in descent; not following the line of father and son; collateral.
5. (botany, of leaves) Having the base of the blade asymmetrical, with one side lower than the other.
6. (botany, of branches or roots) Growing at an angle that is neither vertical nor horizontal.
7. (grammar) Pertaining to the oblique case (non-nominative).
8. (grammar, of speech or narration) Indirect; employing the actual words of the speaker but as related by a third person, having the first person in pronoun and verb converted into the third person and adverbs of present time into the past, etc.
9. (music) Employing oblique motion, motion or progression in which one part (voice) stays on the same note while another ascends or descends.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

oblique (plural obliques)

1. (geometry) An oblique line.
2. (typography) Synonym of slash ?/?.
   • 1965, Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation, page 240:

     Initial inquiries among professional typists uncover names like slant, slant line, slash, and slash mark. Examination of typing instruction manuals discloses additional names such as diagonal and diagonal mark, and other sources provide the designation oblique.

   • 1990, John McDermott, Punctuation for Now, page 20:

     Other Chaucerian manuscripts had the virgule (or virgil or oblique: /) at the middle of lines.

3. (grammar) The oblique case.

Synonyms

• (typography): See slash

Derived terms

• oblique mark
• oblique stroke, stroke

Verb

oblique (third-person singular simple present obliques, present participle obliquing, simple past and past participle obliqued)

1. (intransitive) To deviate from a perpendicular line; to become askew;
2. (military) To march in a direction oblique to the line of the column or platoon; — formerly accomplished by oblique steps, now by direct steps, the men half-facing either to the right or left.
3. (transitive, computing) To slant (text, etc.) at an angle.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obl?quus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.blik/

Adjective

oblique (plural obliques)

1. oblique

Derived terms

• barre oblique
• cas oblique

Verb

oblique

1. first-person singular present indicative of obliquer
2. third-person singular present indicative of obliquer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of obliquer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of obliquer
5. second-person singular imperative of obliquer

Further reading

• “oblique” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Adjective

oblique

1. feminine plural of obliquo

Latin

Adjective

obl?que

1. vocative masculine singular of obl?quus

References

• oblique in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• oblique in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• oblique in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette