clean
Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
Word facts
Definition of Clean
Having relatively few impurities.
Example sentences
This place needs a clean.
Can you clean the windows today?
Using Clean well
A closer look at how clean is used — meaning in plain English, how close synonyms differ, and examples at different levels.
Free from dirt, marks, or unwanted matter; also, done neatly and without errors or dishonesty.
Use 'clean' for physical freedom from dirt, and figuratively for anything simple, fair, or error-free. It is a warm, positive word signalling order and honesty.
Housework and hygiene, design and code ('clean layout', 'clean code'), fair play in sport, and untarnished records or reputations.
Do not confuse with 'cleanse', a verb meaning to purify or wash thoroughly; 'clean' is chiefly an adjective (and its plainer verb form).
- spotless
- Stronger than 'clean': implies not a single mark or flaw remains.
- tidy
- About orderly arrangement rather than absence of dirt; a room can be tidy but not clean.
- pristine
- Suggests untouched, original purity, as if never used or spoiled.
- sanitary
- A clinical term stressing freedom from germs and health hazards, not general neatness.
- immaculate
- Formal and emphatic, implying perfect cleanliness with no fault whatsoever.
- dirty
- The plain everyday opposite: covered in dirt or marks.
- filthy
- A much stronger opposite implying disgusting levels of dirt.
- messy
- Opposes the neat/orderly sense rather than hygiene.
- soiled
- Suggests stained or marked, often by use, in a slightly formal register.
- Beginner Please keep your desk clean.
- In writing The app's clean interface put a single search box front and centre.
- Advanced The auditors gave the accounts a clean bill of health, finding not a single irregularity.
Clean and 'clear' share the 'cle-' start and the same feeling: nothing in the way, nothing out of place.
Related words
Words closely connected to Clean in meaning or use:
Words that rhyme with Clean
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FAQ
Questions people ask
What does clean mean?
Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled. It is an adjective.
How many syllables does clean have?
There is 1 syllable in clean — it is spoken as one beat: clean.
What part of speech is clean?
Clean works as an adjective. As a noun, it names a thing, idea, or concept.
What are synonyms for clean?
You can often swap clean for light, adroit, clear, just, though each carries a slightly different shade of meaning.
How do you use clean in a sentence?
Example: "This place needs a clean."