too clever by half love

too clever by half

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective idiomatic, of a person, theory, etc. Shrewd but flawed by overthinking or excessive complexity, with a resulting tendency to be unreliable or unsuccessful.

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Examples

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Comments

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  • "to be too confident of your own intelligence in a way that annoys other people," is the definition I found. I think it carries the further connotation of undermining oneself by trying too hard to be clever or smart.

    "Too clever for your own good" is better.

    July 20, 2007