tidy

[ tahy-dee ]
See synonyms for: tidytidiness on Thesaurus.com

adjective,ti·di·er, ti·di·est.
  1. neat, orderly, or trim, as in appearance or dress: a tidy room;a tidy person.

  2. clearly organized and systematic: a tidy mind;a tidy way of working.

  1. tolerably good; acceptable: They worked out a tidy arrangement agreeable to all.

  2. fairly large; considerable: a tidy sum.

verb (used with or without object),ti·died, ti·dy·ing.
  1. to make tidy or neat (often followed by up).

noun,plural ti·dies.
  1. any of various articles for keeping things tidy, as a box having small drawers and compartments.

  2. an antimacassar.

Origin of tidy

1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English tidi, tidy “seasonable,” hence “good”; cognate with Dutch tijdig; equivalent to tide1 + -y1

Opposites for tidy

Other words from tidy

  • ti·di·ly, adverb
  • ti·di·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tidy in a sentence

  • He could cook, as all knew, particularly his employer, while he was the tidiest of valets.

    Under the Chinese Dragon | F. S. Brereton
  • It was only the tidiest and the greenest mound in all the churchyard.

    Peccavi | E. W. Hornung
  • The woman who keeps her home tidiest and her children cleanest collars the prize.

    Simon the Jester | William J. Locke
  • We made a bag to hold our tidiest clothes, and blue cotton covers for the mattresses and a bag to keep our pillows clean.

    Across the Prairie in a Motor Caravan | Frances Halton Eva Hasell
  • Accident in the sense of brute fact had to be acknowledged even by the tidiest and most dogmatic atomism of the last century.

    Theodicy | G. W. Leibniz

British Dictionary definitions for tidy

tidy

/ (ˈtaɪdɪ) /


adjective-dier or -diest
  1. characterized by or indicating neatness and order

  2. informal considerable: a tidy sum of money

verb-dies, -dying or -died
  1. (when intr, usually foll by up) to put (things) in order; neaten

nounplural -dies
    • a small container in which odds and ends are kept

    • sink tidy a container with holes in the bottom, kept in the sink to retain rubbish that might clog the plug hole

  1. mainly US and Canadian an ornamental protective covering for the back or arms of a chair

Origin of tidy

1
C13 (in the sense: timely, seasonable, excellent): from tide 1 + -y 1; related to Dutch tijdig timely

Derived forms of tidy

  • tidily, adverb
  • tidiness, 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