neat
1 Americanadjective
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in a pleasingly orderly and clean condition.
a neat room.
- Antonyms:
- sloppy
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habitually orderly and clean in appearance or habits.
a neat person.
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of a simple, pleasing appearance, style, design, etc..
a neat cottage.
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cleverly effective in character or execution: a neat solution.
a neat scheme;
a neat solution.
- Synonyms:
- wonderful, well-planned
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Slang. great; excellent; fine.
What a neat car!
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clever, dexterous, or apt.
She gave a neat characterization of the old woman.
- Synonyms:
- adroit
- Antonyms:
- maladroit
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(of liquid, especially liquor) straight.
- Antonyms:
- mixed
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Building Trades.
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(of cement) without sand or other aggregate.
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(of plaster) without any admixture except hair or fiber.
-
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net.
neat profits.
adverb
noun
adjective
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clean, tidy, and orderly
-
liking or insisting on order and cleanliness; fastidious
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smoothly or competently done; efficient
a neat job
-
pat or slick
his excuse was suspiciously neat
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(of alcoholic drinks) without added water, lemonade, etc; undiluted
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a less common word for net 2
neat profits
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slang good; pleasing; admirable
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of neat1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English net “spruce, trim, clean,” from Middle French, from Latin nitidus “shining, polished, handsome, spruce,” equivalent to nit(ēre) “to shine” + -idus adjective suffix; see -id 4
Origin of neat2
First recorded before 900; Middle English net, nete, nette, Old English nēat, cognate with Old Norse naut, Middle Dutch noot; akin to Old English nēotan “to use, possess”
Explanation
If you're neat, you're clean and tidy. A neat roommate is usually easier to live with than a sloppy one. And a neat mustache is probably better than a big bushy one. Your neat handwriting might have made you the pride of your third-grade teacher, and your neat hairstyle will pass muster with your ballet instructor (who insists on a very tidy bun on every dancer's head). You can also use the word neat to mean "great," "cool," or "super." Neat comes from the Old French net, "clear or pure," from the Latin nitidus, "gleaming." Since the 1930s, it's also meant "very good."
Vocabulary lists containing neat
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.
Many of Raja's community, more widely known as the Onge, still live in near isolation in neat thatched homes on stilts in coastal forests.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
After shaking hands, Trump and Xi walked the red carpet and inspected Chinese troops who lined up in impeccably neat rows.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
I received a small weekly salary but the neat bonus was that I received a movie pass card that allowed me to see any of the films that were playing.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
The dating test furnishes a neat illustration: three profiles—identical in every respect except astrological sign, all showing the same picture of a young man named “Michael”—were created on a popular Chinese dating app.
From Slate • May 5, 2026
It’s neat and clean-smelling, as if it belongs in a different building from the rest of the hotel.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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.
