Cleanly
adj, adv ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.
"I'l now lead you to an honeſt Ale-houſe, where we ſhall find a cleanly room, Lavender in the windowes, and twenty Ballads ſtuck about the wall; […]"
- 2 Cleansing; fitted to remove moisture; dirt, etc. obsolete
"In our Fantaſtic Climes the Fair / With cleanly Powder dry their Hair: […]"
- 3 Adroit; dexterous; artful. obsolete
"Yet at the laſt (ſo well he him applyde,) / Through his fine handling, and cleanly play, / He all thoſe royall ſignes had ſtolne away, / And with the Foxes helpe them borne aſide, / Into a ſecret corner vneſpide."
- 1 habitually clean wordnet
- 1 In a clean way, neatly.
"He was very cleanly dressed, in a blue coat, striped waistcoat, and nankeen trowsers; […]"
- 2 Not causing a mess or unnecessary damage.
"We agreed to break off our relationship cleanly."
- 3 Innocently; without stain.
"If I do growe great, ile growe leſſe, for ile purge and leaue Sacke, and liue cleanlie as a noble man ſhould do."
- 4 Adroitly; dexterously
"The boy will do well certain : give him grace To have a quick hand and convey things cleanly"
- 1 smoothly and without difficulty; precisely and deftly wordnet
- 2 in a manner that minimizes dirt and pollution wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"I resolved to break up with her cleanly."
Etymology
From Middle English clenly, clenliche, clanly, from Old English clǣnlīċ (“cleanly, pure, excellent”), equivalent to clean + -ly.
From Middle English clenly, clenli, clenliche, from Old English clǣnlīċe (“cleanly”), equivalent to clean + -ly.
More for "cleanly"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.