Clean

/kliːn/ · adjective

Meaning

Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled..

Definitions by Sense

1. Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
2. Free of contamination, (unwanted) germs, infection, or disease.
3. Free of imperfections, blemishes, or defects.
4. Free of immorality or criminality.
5. Free of infiltration by covert listening or recording devices (bugs), enemy spies, etc.
6. Empty.
7. Smooth, exact, and performed well.
8. That does not damage the environment (as much as some alternative).

Example Sentences

Are these dishes clean? Your room is finally clean! For a baby, happiness is a full bottle and a clean diaper.

Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

Very fine, well-sorted, clean sand with no shells.

Scientists believe they have identified the world’s cleanest air, free from particles caused by human activity, located over the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica.

Insert a clean swab into your nose.

"Serious as cognitohazard." Lillihammer danced down the corridor towards them, doing little pirouettes and leaping from toe to toe. "Reuben Wirth no longer exists. Gonna have to get Forsythe to do that brain scan to make sure I'm clean, but otherwise yeah. Poof."

We are currently clean on OPSEC.

"[Are you sure the] room is clean?" "As a whistle. It's swept at irregular intervals every week." "That still leaves time to plant a bug[…]"

Synonyms for clean

Antonyms for clean

Related Words

Word Forms

• cleaner
• cleanest
• cleans
• cleaning
• cleaned

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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