TIDY (tidied, tidier, tidiest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: tidied    , tidier    , tidiest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tidy mean? 

• TIDY (noun)
  The noun TIDY has 1 sense:

1. receptacle that holds odds and ends (as sewing materials)

  Familiarity information: TIDY used as a noun is very rare.

• TIDY (adjective)
  The adjective TIDY has 3 senses:

1. marked by order and cleanliness in appearance or habits

2. (of hair) neat and tidy

3. large in amount or extent or degree

  Familiarity information: TIDY used as an adjective is uncommon.

• TIDY (verb)
  The verb TIDY has 1 sense:

1. put (things or places) in order

  Familiarity information: TIDY used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TIDY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Receptacle that holds odds and ends (as sewing materials)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tidy" is a kind of...):

receptacle (a container that is used to put or keep things in)

• TIDY (adjective)

Comparative: tidier   
Superlative: tidiest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Marked by order and cleanliness in appearance or habits

Context example:

a tidy mind

Similar:

neat; orderly (clean or organized)

uncluttered; unlittered (having nothing extraneous)

straight (neatly arranged; not disorderly)

slicked up (having been made especially tidy)

shipshape; trim; well-kept (of places; characterized by order and neatness; free from disorder)

ruly (neat and tidy)

neat (showing care in execution)

clean-cut; trig; trim (neat and smart in appearance)

Also:

fastidious (giving careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness)

clean (free from dirt or impurities; or having clean habits)

groomed (neat and smart in appearance; well cared for)

Antonym:

untidy (not neat and tidy)

Derivation:

tidiness (the trait of being neat and orderly)

tidiness (the habit of being tidy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(of hair) neat and tidy

Synonyms:

kempt; tidy

Context example:

a nicely kempt beard

Similar:

groomed (neat and smart in appearance; well cared for)

Derivation:

tidiness (the trait of being neat and orderly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Large in amount or extent or degree

Synonyms:

goodish; goodly; healthy; hefty; respectable; sizable; sizeable; tidy

Context example:

a sizable fortune

Similar:

considerable (large or relatively large in number or amount or extent or degree)

• TIDY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tidy    ... he / she / it tidies   
Past simple: tidied   
Past participle: tidied   
-ing form: tidying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put (things or places) in order

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

clean up; neaten; square away; straighten; straighten out; tidy; tidy up

Context example:

Tidy up your room!

Hypernyms (to "tidy" is one way to...):

order (bring order to or into)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tidy"):

make; make up (put in order or neaten)

clean; clean house; houseclean (clean and tidy up the house)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

There is neither money nor credit in it, and yet one would wish to tidy it up.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Pretty tidy, I thank you,” answered the other.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I think we can leave the tidying up to them.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was beautifully clean inside, and as tidy as possible.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

After I had tidied myself, I went down to Dr. Seward's study.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I have more pleasure in a snug farm-house than a watch-tower—and a troop of tidy, happy villages please me better than the finest banditti in the world.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

I forgot to tell you that Mrs. Marker, the housekeeper, had been in there tidying not very long before—about a quarter of an hour, she says.

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

The tidy basket, with the bit of work she left unfinished when the needle grew 'so heavy', was still on its accustomed shelf.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Hannah had been cold and stiff, indeed, at the first: latterly she had begun to relent a little; and when she saw me come in tidy and well-dressed, she even smiled.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

You will be super creative on the job on December 13, and that could earn you a tidy fee.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)