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deștept

smart /deʃˈtept/

adjective#1840 most common

Also: clever, intelligent, bright

Example sentences

El este deștept.
He is smart.
Maria este foarte deșteaptă.
Maria is very smart.
Copiii aceștia sunt foarte deștepți.
These children are very smart.
Bravo, deșteptule, ai rezolvat problema!
Well done, smart guy, you solved the problem!
Deși pare deștept, nu reușește niciodată să termine ce începe.
Although he seems smart, he never manages to finish what he starts.
Fiind unul dintre cei mai deștepți studenți ai generației sale, a fost recrutat de o companie de renume imediat după absolvire.
Being one of the smartest students of his generation, he was recruited by a well-known company right after graduation.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativedeșteptdeștepți
Genitivedeșteptdeștepți
Accusativedeșteptdeștepți
Vocativedeșteptuledeștepților

Word family

a (se) deșteptato wake up, to awaken
deșteptăciunecleverness, intelligence
deșteptătoralarm clock (literally, an awakener)
deșteptălăua know-it-all, a smart aleck (colloquial, mocking)

Etymology

Deștept is the adjectival use of the past participle of a deștepta, the Romanian verb for waking someone up. The word comes from Latin, though scholars do not agree on the exact source form. The shift in meaning from awake to clever is a natural one, found in many languages, where mental sharpness is described through the image of an alert, wide-awake mind.

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