tidy
Americanadjective
-
tidier,
comparative
-
tidiest
superlative
verb (used with or without object)
-
tidies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tidied,
past participle, past
-
tidying
present participle
noun
-
tidies
plural
-
any of various articles for keeping things tidy, as a box having small drawers and compartments.
-
an antimacassar.
adjective
-
characterized by or indicating neatness and order
-
informal considerable
a tidy sum of money
verb
noun
-
-
a small container in which odds and ends are kept
-
a container with holes in the bottom, kept in the sink to retain rubbish that might clog the plug hole
-
-
an ornamental protective covering for the back or arms of a chair
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tidysimple
-
tidiessimple
-
have tidiedperfect
-
has tidiedperfect
-
am tidyingprogressive
-
are tidyingprogressive
-
is tidyingprogressive
-
have been tidyingperfect progressive
-
has been tidyingperfect progressive
Past
-
tidiedsimple
-
had tidiedperfect
-
was tidyingprogressive
-
were tidyingprogressive
-
had been tidyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tidy
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English tidi, tidy “seasonable,” hence “good”; cognate with Dutch tijdig; equivalent to tide 1 + -y 1
Explanation
Use the adjective tidy for something that is neat and clean. If your desk were more tidy, you would be able to find your computer. Tidy (or tidy up) also means “to clean up” and is also a noun for a container for small objects, like scraps or sewing materials. These senses of tidy have a formal or even old-fashioned note. (We’re more likely to say clean, organize, or bin now in everyday conversation.) Tidy is also an informal adjective meaning "large or considerable." If you can put the word tidy before your profit or the sum in your bank account, it’s a good thing.
Vocabulary lists containing tidy
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Musée des Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
So it feels almost too tidy that, in this week’s episode, Cartman is right back where “The End of Obesity” found him.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
He puts the authorities' leniency down partly to the tidy and spartan way he operates his business: a bench, umbrella, card reader and table that he folds up and carts away each evening.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Essex had been progressing serenely after tea on the second day of the County Championship match when Charlie Allison became Crocombe's first victim after a tidy 56.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The funds focus on lower-risk infrastructure businesses, which act as a tidy diversifier between bonds and equities, portfolio manager Bertrand Cliquet told MarketWatch in an interview on Monday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Some were neat and tidy and others looked abandoned, with boarded windows and tall weeds growing.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Moriarty figures heavily in the opening episodes of “Sherlock & Daughter” too, although Dougray Scott lends a malevolent scruff to him that Park’s interpretation tidies up.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
She tidies up his place and spends time with him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2025
Watch: Mouse tidies up man's shed every night.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2024
Although the deception predictably comes to a head, as Joy’s husband and daughter act on their suspicions that something is awry, “Call Jane” tidies that mess with baffling brevity.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2022
She makes me laugh one minute, tidies without permission the next.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Where Americans think of graphically violent procedurals as comfort watches, the British prefer their TV homicides to be much tidier: Serious violence occurs offscreen.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026
Given that gentrification, almost by definition, transforms high-disorder areas into tidier ones, and given that the process appears to be continuing in New York and other cities, hasn’t Mr. Gottlieb got matters exactly backward?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Sure, it would be tidier, and feel better, to get all of one’s support from like-minded individuals.
From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2026
Councils have tried various methods to make this tidier, ranging from placing vinyl stickers on pavements showing where bin bags should be placed, to repurposing plastic storage containers normally made for grit or dog waste.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025
She picked up her chained dæmon, whose baleful eyes glared at Lord Asriel over her shoulder, and went through to make herself tidier.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
It's not the tidiest grinder I've ever used, but it's the best for brewed coffee.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2022
Sonically too, the music conjures an in-between state, with breezy pop melodies roughed up by strange textures and asymmetric structures that carry even the tidiest songs in unexpected directions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2021
My house was the tidiest it had ever been – for a while.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 13, 2019
“He has the tidiest and most orderly brain, with the greatest capacity for storing facts, of any man living. . . . All other men are specialists, but his specialism is omniscience.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2018
If their disappearance was the work of shamblers, they were the tidiest shamblers I’ve ever heard of.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
One robot tidied cupboards and wiped surfaces, while others put orange juice and milk in the fridge, threw away empty packaging and loaded the dishwasher.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
It is not simply that the curators have tidied up before letting the public in: Woolf’s “writing lodge” at Monk’s House in Sussex, England, for instance, is suspiciously clear of crumpled envelopes and broken cigarette-holders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
That night, Gil tidied up around the store, cleaned the bathroom, got ready to close for the day.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026
Molting peacocks squawked in the distance and a Pacific breeze whispered through the eucalyptus as flamingo keeper Liz Gibbons tidied her station at the San Francisco Zoo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2025
“The Death Eaters probably tidied up after themselves, that’s why no one’s found him,” said Ron wisely.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
For all of its capabilities, artificial intelligence has yet to save us from tidying up before the cleaner comes.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
The tidying expert from BBC One's Sort Your Life Out once helped an ex-boyfriend clear up and organise his mother's home after she died.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Beijing cleaner Lin Meiqiong found her work a little easier the day she was paired with an unlikely new colleague -- a tall, wheeled robot with AI-powered tidying skills.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Donning my academic editor title, I imagined myself tasked with the act of tidying, turning teenage madness, drama, beauty into writing that is still dramatic and beautiful—just grammatically correct.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
Two workers, a young man in a nurturer's uniform and a volunteer, a girl of ten or so, were tidying things.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
