I’d say so. Clever has connotations of deceitfulness and doesn’t necessarily imply intellectual pursuits. A con artist can be really, really clever without being an “intellectual”.
In my opinion, clever is better, a survivor, improvise is their middle name, not afraid to challenge, goes with their gut, instinctive, the people that do the crap jobs that intellects wouldn’t touch. The people that do the work necessary for intellectuals to lead a “pampered” life. Am I biased????? HMMMMMMMMM, could be.
My bad…. if I was really clever I would not be doing the crappy work. I’d either find someone less clever than me or trick an intellectual into doing the task.
“Intellectual” implies someone who pursues certain types of academic knowledge. It usually implies that this person does more than read and dabble in certain fields. They’re an academic of some kind. An intellectual isn’t just someone who’s intelligent.
People can be clever in any job or hobby or passion without being an intellectual.
@Bluefreedom
That doesn’t mean that you are deceitful. The word has connotations (emotional associations) of deceitfulness in my opinion. I don’t have any better way of explaining it.