Better be without sense, than misapply it as you do.
In a crisp antithesis, Knightley says misused cleverness is worse than none at all. He aims this at Emma’s meddling, which twists insight into manipulation. The sting lands because Emma prides herself on sense; the rebuke asks her to match wit with judgment. Stylistically, the sentence is hard and spare—Knightley’s moral geometry. The emotion is hot but controlled; he is angry because he cares what kind of person Emma becomes. The scene demonstrates their dynamic: honesty that risks the relationship to save it. For readers, it affirms that intelligence without empathy can harm. It foreshadows Emma’s later remorse and re-alignment toward kindness.