How to say “smart” in Korean: 똑똑하다 vs. 영리하다

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How to say “smart” in Korean: 똑똑하다 vs. 영리하다

How do you say that someone is “smart” or “clever” in Korean? These are some words you can find in the dictionary, and all of these words are actually used.

똑똑하다영리하다현명하다 머리가 좋다

똑똑하다 and 영리하다 are usually interchangeable. You can say these two words about people, animals, or methods.

똑똑한 사람 = smart person, clever person영리한 사람 = smart person, clever person똑똑한 강아지 = smart puppy영리한 강아지 = smart puppy똑똑한 방법 = clever method영리한 방법 = clever method

One thing to note is that it is often NOT appropriate to say 똑똑하다 or 영리하다 about someone that’s older than you or higher in social status. Perhaps you can describe them using those words (저희 교수님은 정말 똑똑하세요. = My professor is really smart.) but not directly to that person as a compliment. So don’t say 똑똑하시네요 (= You’re smart.) to your professor even if you mean well.

If you are complimenting someone for being smart or clever and that person is NOT older than you, you can feel free to use 똑똑하다 or 영리하다.

Although 똑똑하다 and 영리하다 are interchangeable, since 똑똑하다 is a native Korean word and 영리하다 is a sino-Korean word, meaning it’s based on Chinese characters, 영리하다 can sound a bit more formal and can be used more frequently to describe methods, tactics and approachs that are “smart”.

Then how can you describe someone being smart and still sound polite?

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If you want to still sound polite when you say that someone older or higher is smart, you can use 머리가 좋다. This expression literally means that “head is good”. It really depends on the situation whether 머리가 좋다 will sound proper or not, but in general, 머리가 좋다 is safer to use than 영리하다 and 똑똑하다 if you want to sound more polite.

And another word you want to know is 현명하다. It means “to be wise”.

현명한 사람 = a wise person현명한 선택 = a wise choice현명한 조언 = wise advice

Thank you for reading and thank you for studying with Talk To Me In Korean!

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