cleanly

[ adjective klen-lee; adverb kleen-lee ]
See synonyms for: cleanlycleanliercleanliestcleanliness on Thesaurus.com

adjective,clean·li·er, clean·li·est.
  1. personally neat; careful to keep or make clean: The cat is by nature a cleanly animal.

  2. habitually kept clean.

  1. Obsolete. cleansing; making clean.

adverb
  1. in a clean manner.

Origin of cleanly

1
before 900; Middle English clenlich(e), Old English clǣnlīc, equivalent to clǣneclean + -līc-ly

Other words from cleanly

  • clean·li·ness [klen-lee-nis], /ˈklɛn li nɪs/, noun

Words that may be confused with cleanly

Words Nearby cleanly

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cleanly in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cleanly

cleanly

adverb(ˈkliːnlɪ)
  1. in a fair manner

  2. easily or smoothly: the screw went into the wood cleanly

adjective(ˈklɛnlɪ) -lier or -liest
  1. habitually clean or neat

Derived forms of cleanly

  • cleanlily (ˈklɛnlɪlɪ), adverb
  • cleanliness (ˈklɛnlɪnɪs), noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012