How to say “clever” in 31 languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
It is commonest in Urdu, where ہوشیار is the 318th most used word.
- Albanian urtë sage, wise; clever; silent #1,896
- Arabic كاس to be clever, to be acute in intellect, to… #2,367
- Bengali চালাক #740
- Bosnian pametan smart, clever #1,039
- Bulgarian умен clever, smart, intelligent #1,145
- Chinese 聰明 clever; intelligent; smart; bright #2,220
- Croatian pametan smart, clever #1,070
- Czech chytrý #1,443
- Estonian nutikas smart, astute, clever, savvy #1,545
- Finnish fiksu clever, smart, sharp, bright #1,510
- German schlau clever in a way that enables one to achieve… #2,107
- Greek έξυπνος clever, intelligent, sharp #1,174
- Hindi होशियार clever, smart #2,120
- Hungarian okos smart, bright, clever #781
- Icelandic klár clever, sharp bright, certain, knowledgeable #842
- Indonesian bijak wise, clever, skillful #2,365
- Italian intelligente intelligent, clever, bright, smart #1,174
- Lithuanian gudrus #1,933
- Macedonian паметен smart, clever #822
- Malay bijak wise, clever #524
- Malayalam സൂത്രം a tricky or clever method or solution;… #1,540
- Norwegian flink clever, proficient, competent, good #672
- Russian умный clever, smart, intelligent #2,347
- Serbian pametan smart, clever #1,035
- Slovak chytrý #1,450
- Spanish listo clever, smart #445
- Swedish smart smart; clever #769
- Tagalog wais crafty; skillful; clever; sharp; wise #2,118
- Tamil கில்லாடி a clever person, expert #1,427
- Turkish zeki smart, intelligent, clever #868
- Urdu ہوشیار clever, smart #318
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.