| English Dictionary |
NEAT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does neat mean?
• NEAT (adjective)
The adjective NEAT has 6 senses:
1. clean or organized
2. showing care in execution
3. free from clumsiness; precisely or deftly executed
4. superficially impressive, but lacking depth and attention to the true complexities of a subject
5. very good
6. (of an alcoholic drink) without water
Familiarity information: NEAT used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: neatest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Clean or organized
Synonyms:
neat; orderly
Context example:
a neat room
Similar:
tidy (marked by order and cleanliness in appearance or habits)
Derivation:
neatness (the trait of being neat and orderly)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Showing care in execution
Context example:
neat handwriting
Similar:
tidy (marked by order and cleanliness in appearance or habits)
Derivation:
neatness (the trait of being neat and orderly)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Free from clumsiness; precisely or deftly executed
Synonyms:
clean; neat
Context example:
the neat exactness of the surgeon's knife
Similar:
adroit (quick or skillful or adept in action or thought)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Superficially impressive, but lacking depth and attention to the true complexities of a subject
Synonyms:
Context example:
a slick advertising campaign
Similar:
superficial (concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Very good
Synonyms:
bang-up; bully; corking; cracking; dandy; great; groovy; keen; neat; nifty; not bad; old; peachy; slap-up; smashing; swell
Context example:
we had a grand old time
Similar:
good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 6
Meaning:
(of an alcoholic drink) without water
Synonyms:
full-strength; neat; straight
Context example:
took his whiskey neat
Similar:
undiluted (not diluted)
Context examples
She said I was like Mr. Rivers, only, certainly, she allowed, "not one-tenth so handsome, though I was a nice neat little soul enough, but he was an angel."
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
They drank whisky, they drank it neat, and I fetched more.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Nothing was neat and pleasant but 'Marmee's corner', which looked as usual.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The room was very neat and orderly.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The nicest—by which I suppose you mean the neatest.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
On the desk, among the neat array of papers, a large envelope was uppermost, and bore, in the doctor’s hand, the name of Mr. Utterson.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The grounds of Hartfield were small, but neat and pretty; and the house was modern and well-built.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
So quick and neat and silent was he in all he did, that my father was as taken with him as I was.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a neat little thing, and I had stretched out my hand to examine it more closely, when——
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
As I turned the promontory I perceived a small neat town and a good harbour, which I entered, my heart bounding with joy at my unexpected escape.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"There is no winter for who has remained in his mother's womb" (Breton proverb)
"Shall the sheep go astray, they will be led by the ill goat." (Arabic proverb)
"If you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is." (Egyptian proverb)