clever (redirected from cleverness)

be too clever by half (British)

to be too confident of your own intelligence in a way that annoys other people. At school he had a reputation for arrogance. 'Too clever by half' was how one former teacher described him.

See also: half

box clever (British)

to behave in a clever and sometimes slightly dishonest way to try to achieve a result you want. Obviously he would have to box clever in the witness stand to avoid implicating himself.

See also: box

a clever clogs (British & Australian, humorous, Australian, humorous)

if you call someone a clever clogs, you mean that they are very clever. I bet old clever clogs here knows the answer.

See also: clog

a clever dick (British & Australian)

someone who tries too hard to show that they are clever, in a way which annoys other people. He's such a clever dick, talking loudly on the phone in lots of different languages.

See also: dick