CLEAN-CUT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does clean-cut mean? 

• CLEAN-CUT (adjective)
  The adjective CLEAN-CUT has 2 senses:

1. neat and smart in appearance

2. clear and distinct to the senses; easily perceptible

  Familiarity information: CLEAN-CUT used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLEAN-CUT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Neat and smart in appearance

Synonyms:

clean-cut; trig; trim

Context example:

a trim beard

Similar:

tidy (marked by order and cleanliness in appearance or habits)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Clear and distinct to the senses; easily perceptible

Synonyms:

clean-cut; clear; clear-cut

Context example:

a clear-cut pattern

Similar:

distinct (easy to perceive; especially clearly outlined)

 Context examples 

The English Foxhound is a clean-cut, athletic hound, with a long muzzle and wide skull.

(English Foxhound, NCI Thesaurus)

The German Shorthaired Pointer is a clean-cut, well-balanced, hunting dog with a chiseled head and large nose.

(German Shorthaired Pointer, NCI Thesaurus)

When I looked at this splendid fellow, with his high-bred, clean-cut face, and thought of the fine qualities and gentle, generous impulses which I knew to lie within him, it seemed so absurd that he should speak as though my friendship towards him were a condescension, that I could not help laughing aloud.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were not unlike each other, either in face or figure, though the Bristol man was a few years the older, and a murmur of critical admiration was heard as the two tall, lithe figures, and keen, clean-cut faces were contrasted.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)