Clever wife is English (4)
I believe the answer is:
wise
'clever' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wife is english' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'w'+'is'+'e'='WISE'
(Other definitions for wise that I've seen before include "Prudent" , "Having discernment" , "Morecambe partner" , "Sagacious" , "Having good judgement" .)