Tidy

//ˈtaɪ.di// adj, intj, name, noun, verb, slang

adj, intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A container or other device for storing or organizing loose items in a tidy fashion. in-compounds

    "desk tidy; sink tidy; cable tidy"

  2. 2
    receptacle that holds odds and ends (as sewing materials) wordnet
  3. 3
    A cover, often of tatting, drawn work, or other ornamental work, for the back of a chair, the arms of a sofa, etc.
  4. 4
    A child's pinafore. dated

    "A much coarser cotton, according to the fancy of the worker, may be used for the trimmings of night dresses, petticoats, D'Oyleys, tidies, etc."

  5. 5
    The wren.

    "The Tydie for her notes as delicate as they"

Verb
  1. 1
    To make tidy; to neaten.
  2. 2
    put (things or places) in order wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    Arranged neatly and in order.

    "She always kept her desk immaculately tidy; nothing was ever out of place."

  2. 2
    Not messy; neat and controlled.

    "Keep Britain tidy by picking up litter."

  3. 3
    Satisfactory; comfortable. colloquial
  4. 4
    Generous, considerable. colloquial

    "The scheme made a tidy profit."

  5. 5
    In good time; at the right time; timely; seasonable; opportune; favourable; fit; suitable. obsolete

    "if weather be fair and tidy"

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    Brave; smart; skillful; fine; good. obsolete
  2. 7
    Appropriate or suitable as regards occasion, circumstances, arrangement, or order.
  3. 8
    Normalized in a certain way that optimizes for data analysis.
Adjective
  1. 1
    large in amount or extent or degree wordnet
  2. 2
    marked by order and cleanliness in appearance or habits wordnet
  3. 3
    (of hair) neat and tidy wordnet
Intj
  1. 1
    Expression of agreement or positive acknowledgement, usually in reply to a question; great, fine. Wales
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
neatorderlypresentableshipshapesizeablespick and span

Example

More examples

"The cottage was clean and tidy."

Etymology

From Middle English tidy, tydy, tidi (“timely, seasonal, opportune”), from tide (“time”) + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian tiedig (“timely, early”), Dutch tijdig (“timely”), German Low German tiedig (“timely”), German zeitig (“seasonal, timely”), Danish tidig (“timely”), Swedish tidig (“timely”).

Related phrases

cable tidydesk tidyhair-tidyneat and tidysink tidytidy one's sock drawertidy uptidy-upneat andneat cleanneat organized

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.