adv
Meaning 1
Wittily; in a tricky manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- He joked cleverly with each guest.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
cleverly
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈklɛvəli/
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General-American: /ˈklɛvɚli/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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homophone: Cleverley
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UK: /ˈklɛvəli/
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homophone: cleverly
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CMU ARPABET: K L EH1 V ER0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adv
Meaning 2
Intelligently directed to a purpose.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Cleverly, he found ways of ingratiating himself with all the important guests.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 3
Completely, fully.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A surname from Old English.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 5
in a clever manner
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- they were cleverly arranged
- a smartly managed business
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: smartly
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English clever Middle English -ly English -ly English cleverly From clever + -ly.
Perhaps a variant of Cleveley, through an irregular development, or a possibly a habitational surname from a lost or unidentified place in Hampshire, from Old English clǣfre (“clover”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”) and thus equivalent to clover + -ley (“lea”).
Across languages
Translations
2 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Czech: chytře — intelligently directed to a purpose
- Esperanto: lerte — intelligently directed to a purpose
Real reading context