too clever by half
Shrewd but flawed by overthinking or excessive complexity, with a resulting tendency to be unreliable or unsuccessful.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He is too clever by half and often makes silly mistakes.”
“The consultant tried to impress the board with a complex strategy, but he was too clever by half and ignored the basic facts.”
“While his intricate plan initially seemed brilliant, he proved to be too clever by half, as his over-complicated logic eventually caused the entire project to collapse.”
- 01
all over hell's half acre
All over the place; everywhere.
- 02
as clever as a cartload of monkeys
Very clever, cunning or mischievous.
- 03
baker's half dozen
Seven, a group of seven.
- 04
box clever
To act wisely.
- 05
do by halves
To perform (a task, etc) partially or incompletely; to do (something) inadequately, halfheartedly, or shoddily.
- 06
go halves
To divide equally between two parties.
- 07
half a brain
A very basic or minimal level of intelligence.
- 08
half a head
Synonym of half a brain.
Last updated August 10, 2026