clean-cut
Americanadjective
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having distinct, regular shape.
a face with clean-cut features.
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clearly outlined.
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neat and wholesome.
a polite, clean-cut young man.
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unambiguously clear; unmistakable; clear-cut.
The case against him is a clean-cut one.
adjective
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clearly outlined; neat
clean-cut lines of a ship
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definite
a clean-cut decision in boxing
Etymology
Origin of clean-cut
First recorded in 1835–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gilberto, now with a clean cut, ate a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, gravy, rolls and other fixings outside the mission on a warm fall day.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2025
Walker would offer bosses a clean cut image and a safe pair of hands were he to take the role, having previously also covered Olympics and football World Cups for the BBC.
From BBC • Nov. 11, 2024
A screenshot of proper technique shows a clean cut along the transversus abdominis muscle, carefully avoiding the delicate nerve bundles.
From New York Times • Oct. 30, 2023
The plan is designed to distance RBI from Russia, but it would not be a clean cut.
From Reuters • May 23, 2023
With a clean cut, she sliced the rope and helped George pull Marco into the boat.
From "I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912" by Lauren Tarshis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
