How to say “clever” in 31 different 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.
- listo/ˈlisto/ Spanish
- умный[ˈumnɨj] Russian
- 聰明/t͡sʰʊŋ⁵⁵ miŋ³⁵/ Chinese
- होशियार/ɦoː.ʃɪ.jɑːɾ/ Hindi
- έξυπνος/ˈe.ksi.pnos/ Greek
- চালাক/t͡ʃalak/ Bengali
“clever” in Spanish: listo · Chinese: 聰明 · Russian: умный · Hindi: होशियार · Greek: έξυπνος
It is commonest in Urdu, where ہوشیار is the 318th most used word.
Clever in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian urtë/uɾtə/ sage, wise; clever; silent #1,896
- Arabic كاس/kaːsa/ to be clever, to be acute in intellect, to… #2,367
- Bengali চালাক/t͡ʃalak/ #740
- Bosnian pametan/pâmetan/ smart, clever #1,039
- Bulgarian умен[ˈumɛn] clever, smart, intelligent #1,145
- Chinese 聰明/t͡sʰʊŋ⁵⁵ miŋ³⁵/ clever; intelligent; smart; bright #2,220
- Croatian pametan/pâmetan/ smart, clever #1,070
- Czech chytrý[ˈxɪtriː] #1,443
- Estonian nutikas/ˈnutikɑs/ smart, astute, clever, savvy #1,545
- Finnish fiksu/ˈfiksu/ clever, smart, sharp, bright #1,510
- German schlau/ʃlaʊ̯/ clever in a way that enables one to achieve… #2,107
- Greek έξυπνος/ˈe.ksi.pnos/ clever, intelligent, sharp #1,174
- Hindi होशियार/ɦoː.ʃɪ.jɑːɾ/ clever, smart #2,120
- Hungarian okos[ˈokoʃ] smart, bright, clever #781
- Icelandic klár[ˈkʰlauːr] clever, sharp bright, certain, knowledgeable #842
- Indonesian bijak/ˈbi.d͡ʒak/ wise, clever, skillful #2,365
- Italian intelligente/in.tel.liˈd͡ʒɛn.te/ intelligent, clever, bright, smart #1,174
- Lithuanian gudrus[ɡʊˈdrʊs] #1,933
- Macedonian паметен[ˈpamɛtɛn] smart, clever #822
- Malay bijak/ˈbid͡ʒak/ wise, clever #524
- Malayalam സൂത്രം/suːt̪rɐm/ a tricky or clever method or solution;… #1,540
- Norwegian flink/ˈflɪŋk/ clever, proficient, competent, good #672
- Russian умный[ˈumnɨj] clever, smart, intelligent #2,347
- Serbian pametan/pâmetan/ smart, clever #1,035
- Slovak chytrý/xitriː/ #1,450
- Spanish listo/ˈlisto/ clever, smart #445
- Swedish smart/smɑːʈ/ smart; clever #769
- Tagalog wais/ˈwaʔis/ crafty; skillful; clever; sharp; wise #2,118
- Tamil கில்லாடி/kɪllɑːɖiː/ a clever person, expert #1,427
- Turkish zeki/zeˈciː/ smart, intelligent, clever #868
- Urdu ہوشیار/ɦoː.ʃɪ.jɑːɾ/ clever, smart #318
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.