neat

[ neet ]

/ nit /

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See synonyms for: neat / neater / neatest / neatly on Thesaurus.com

adjective, neat·er, neat·est.

in a pleasingly orderly and clean condition: a neat room.

habitually orderly and clean in appearance or habits: a neat person.

of a simple, pleasing appearance, style, design, etc.: a neat cottage.

cleverly effective in character or execution: a neat scheme; a neat solution.

Slang. great; wonderful; fine: What a neat car!

clever, dexterous, or apt: She gave a neat characterization of the old woman.

(of liquid, especially liquor) straight (def. 16).

Building Trades.

(of cement) without sand or other aggregate.
(of plaster) without any admixture except hair or fiber.

net: neat profits.

adverb

Informal. neatly.

OTHER WORDS FOR neat

1 spruce, smart.

4 well-planned.

6 adroit.

7 unmixed, pure.

See synonyms for neat on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR neat

1 sloppy.

6 maladroit.

7 mixed.

See antonyms for neat on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of neat

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 -id⁴

OTHER WORDS FROM neat

neatly, adverbneatness, noun

Other definitions for neat (2 of 2)

neat²

[ neet ]

/ nit /

noun, plural neat.

an animal of the genus Bos; a bovine, as a cow or ox.

Origin of neat

before 900; Middle English neet,Old English nēat, cognate with Old Norse naut,Middle Dutch noot; akin to Old English nēotan to use, possess

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use neat in a sentence

This won’t be a problem is you have a full beard and are just looking to trim things to a suitable state of neat.
Best electric shaver: Get a smooth shave with our picks|Jeremy Helligar|December 18, 2020|Popular-Science
Technology is often central in these schemes—it appears as a dynamic and seemingly unstoppable force, providing a neat solution to society’s problems.
Future Cities: New Challenges Mean We Need to Reimagine the Look of Urban Landscapes|Nick Dunn|December 18, 2020|Singularity Hub
“The more time you spend observing birds and being outside actively looking for them, the better you’ll get and the higher your chances of seeing something really neat,” he added.
A concise guide to birding in your own backyard|Erin E. Williams|December 11, 2020|Washington Post
Deanna Curtis, curator of woody plants at the New York Botanical Garden, recommends another variety, Atrovirens, which is more contained, with a neater branch architecture.
Winter wonders: Conifers revive the sleeping garden. But remember, less is more.|Adrian Higgins|December 2, 2020|Washington Post

For two decades, our image of who this woman is has been directed by Steven Soderbergh into a neat, 130 minute story with a happy ending.
Erin Brockovich has given up on the federal government saving the environment|Nicole Goodkind|September 25, 2020|Fortune
However…the failure to send a distress call still undermines the neatness of this picture.
How Flight 370 Could Have Become a Zombie|Clive Irving|March 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mere hastiness or slovenliness of work is not identical with the effect of inability to achieve mechanical neatness.
Antonio Stradivari|Horace William Petherick
The Park is very pretty, and all the buildings round about it have an air of neatness—almost of stateliness.
Little Travels and Roadside Sketches|William Makepeace Thackeray
Never were such patterns of neatness seen as these old ladies and their houses.
Little Travels and Roadside Sketches|William Makepeace Thackeray
If you are not quite certain of the line between neatness and the reverse, be over-scrupulous about your under garments.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness|Florence Hartley
No translation can give the elegant neatness of his language.
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808|Lt-Col. Pinkney

British Dictionary definitions for neat (1 of 2)

neat¹

/ (niːt) /

adjective

clean, tidy, and orderly

liking or insisting on order and cleanliness; fastidious

smoothly or competently done; efficienta neat job

pat or slickhis excuse was suspiciously neat

(of alcoholic drinks) without added water, lemonade, etc; undiluted

a less common word for net 2 neat profits

slang, mainly US and Canadian good; pleasing; admirable

Derived forms of neat

neatly, adverbneatness, noun

Word Origin for neat

C16: from Old French net, from Latin nitidus clean, shining, from nitēre to shine; related to Middle Irish niam beauty, brightness, Old Persian naiba- beautiful

British Dictionary definitions for neat (2 of 2)

neat²

/ (niːt) /

noun plural neat

archaic, or dialect a domestic bovine animal

Word Origin for neat

Old English neat

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

neat

OTHER WORDS FOR neat

OPPOSITES FOR neat

Origin of neat

OTHER WORDS FROM neat

Other definitions for neat (2 of 2)

Origin of neat

Words related to neat

How to use neat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for neat (1 of 2)

Derived forms of neat

Word Origin for neat

British Dictionary definitions for neat (2 of 2)

Word Origin for neat