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tidy

A2
noun
Fairly common

Pronunciation

UK

  • /tˈaɪdi/

US

  • /ˈtaɪdi/

Meanings

Adjective

  1. clean, neat, and in good order

  2. (informal)fairly large or considerable in amount

Verb

  1. to make clean and orderly

Beyond the definition

To be tidy means to be neat, orderly, and well organized. A tidy room is not just clean; it is arranged in a clear, sensible way, with things put in the right place. You might ask someone to "tidy up" their bedroom, meaning they should put things away and make the room look presentable. It can also describe a person who usually keeps things neat and in order. Think of a librarian carefully shelving books: that is tidiness in action.

Examples

  1. 1

    Room

    Please keep your room tidy.

  2. 2

    Appearance

    He always looks tidy in a white shirt and dark jeans.

  3. 3

    Desk

    I need to tidy my desk before the video call.

  4. 4

    Spreadsheet

    The spreadsheet looks much tidier now that the sections are grouped by topic.

More examples
  1. 5

    Kitchen cleanup

    Can you tidy up the kitchen while I answer this email?

    • Phrasetidy up

      make a place tidy

  2. 6

    Cleaning responsibility

    The kids have to tidy up after themselves when they finish painting.

    • Phrasetidy up after yourself

      clean the mess you made

  3. 7

    Profit

    She made a tidy profit when she sold the apartment.

    • Usagea tidy profit

      a fairly large profit, especially in British English

See also

Similar

Shades of meaning

Contrast

Used with (collocations)

  • tidy room
  • tidy desk
  • keep something tidy

Word family

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Forms and spellings

6 forms open this card.

Main spelling

  • tidynounverbadjective

Forms

  • tidying-ing formverbadjectivenoun
  • tidiedpast tenseverbadjectivenoun
  • tidiercomparativeadjectiveverbnoun
  • tidiespluralnounverbadjective
  • tidiestsuperlativeadjectiveverbnoun