overclever
Smart to detriment
Overclever describes someone who is too clever for their own good—so intent on being smart or cunning that they outsmart themselves or create unnecessary complications.
An overclever plan might fail precisely because it relied on too many moving parts.
His overclever scheme to avoid taxes landed him in more trouble than if he'd just paid them.
The word carries a note of mild reproach, suggesting that simpler thinking would have served better.
Smugly impertinent in manner
- wiseacreIrritating would-be wit
- know-it-allSelf-proclaimed authority on everything
- cockyExcessively self-assured
- self-satisfiedSmugly pleased with oneself
smarmy · glib · slick · overconfident · smirking · preening · insufferable · obnoxious
Sly, scheming cleverness
- craftyCleverly deceptive
- deviousUnderhanded and calculating
- manipulativeSkilled at controlling others
- calculatingColdly self-serving in strategy
conniving · wily · sly · underhanded · foxy · guileful · artful · shrewd
Causing one's own failure
- counterproductiveHindering intended outcome
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- overreachExceed one's capacity
- boomerangSelf-returning thrown weapon
smart-alecky
Smugly impertinent in manner
- wiseacreIrritating would-be wit
- know-it-allSelf-proclaimed authority on everything
- cockyExcessively self-assured
self-satisfied · smarmy · glib · slick · overconfident · smirking · preening · insufferable · obnoxious · unctuous
cunning
Sly, scheming cleverness
- craftyCleverly deceptive
- deviousUnderhanded and calculating
- manipulativeSkilled at controlling others
calculating · conniving · wily · sly · underhanded · foxy · guileful · artful · shrewd · plotting
self-defeating
Causing one's own failure
- counterproductiveHindering intended outcome
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- overreachExceed one's capacity
boomerang · blowback · comeuppance · unintended consequences
overcomplicated
Excessively intricate or elaborate
- byzantineDauntingly intricate and devious
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
- tortuousFull of twists
elaborate · contrived · ornate · rococo · overwrought · knotty · tangled · baroque · fussy · overengineered
overcleversimple
Free of complexity
straightforward · uncomplicated · plain · guileless · artless
over, clever, overdo, cleverness, cleverly, overthink, cleverer, cleverest, overact