clearheaded

[ kleer-hed-id ]

/ ˈklɪərˈhɛd ɪd /

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See synonyms for: clearheaded / clearheadedness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having or showing an alert mind.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of clearheaded

First recorded in 1700–10; clear + head + -ed³

OTHER WORDS FROM clearheaded

clear·head·ed·ly, adverbclear·head·ed·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use clearheaded in a sentence

Pilots who smoke perform more poorly than clear-headed pilots on simulators—and that lasts 24 hours or more.
Weed Gave My Family Everything—Then Took It Away|Abby Haglage|April 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Millard proves an eminently clear-headed guide to the treacherous corridors of the late 19th-century Capitol.
What His Death Wrought|Kirk Davis Swinehart|October 19, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's dueling rallies in Washington produced clear-headed dialogue and huge crowds.
Sanity Won Out|The Daily Beast|October 30, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Shucking oysters is a particular skill and a task best approached clear-headed and with no distractions.
What to Eat|Cookstr.com|September 1, 2009|DAILY BEAST

Clear-headed and full of business, they believe with Binney in making the best of both worlds.
Our Churches and Chapels|Atticus
Jervis's measures received full support from him, clear-headed as ever to see the essentials of a situation.
The Life of Nelson, Vol. I (of 2)|A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan
It was a shocking conclusion to form, but the usually clear-headed boy became convinced he was right.
Two Boys in Wyoming|Edward S. Ellis
He is clear-headed enough to-day; but the men around him think too much of their own interests, and he of his country alone.
The Red City|S. Weir Mitchell
She became his public, as it were, and no man ever had a more open-minded, clear-headed public than that.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete|Albert Bigelow Paine

British Dictionary definitions for clearheaded

clear-headed

adjective

mentally alert; sensible; judicious

Derived forms of clear-headed

clear-headedly, adverbclear-headedness, 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