clear-cut
Americanadjective
-
formed with or having clearly defined outlines.
a face with clear-cut features.
-
unambiguously clear; completely evident; definite.
His sale of secrets was a clear-cut example of treachery.
-
of or relating to a section of forest where all trees have been cut down for harvesting.
noun
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
definite; not vague
a clear-cut proposal
-
clearly outlined
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of clear-cut
First recorded in 1850–55
Vocabulary lists containing clear-cut
Obvious
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Obvious
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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.
See Examples For:
The clear-cut way to get a raise is to land a new job.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
The US leader's influence could be less clear-cut this time around, however.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
That refusal to cast anyone as a clear-cut villain is something critics have highlighted in their reviews.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Safety benefits aren’t often clear-cut, and the realities of costs, testing and supply-chain bottlenecks can slow changes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
The bottom line, he felt, was that there was “certainly no clear-cut path to defense results of great importance.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
California, biomass energy advocates say, has struggled to get past its distrust of the technology, given traditional biomass’ checkered past of clear-cutting forests and polluting poorer communities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
During the helicopter flight, we could see clear-cutting occurring within a couple of miles of the site that we were surveying and in roughly similar terrain.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2024
And most ecologists regard degradation as the consequence of the type of large scale clear-cutting that is nearly the universal method of logging in Canada.
From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
In the Amazon, fires are mostly man-made and occur after clear-cutting of the forest.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2023
And being a very clear-cutting personality with an instinct for the material rendering of things, she also came and sat beside him on the little square-cornered sofa.
From The Research Magnificent by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
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.
