clean

Free from dirt or unwanted substances.

• Your hands are clean.
• Put on a clean shirt.
• Are all the dishes clean now?

Similar words: spotless

Opposites: dirty

Common phrases: clean hands, clean clothes, clean water, clean dishes

Producing little pollution or causing little harm to the environment.

• Wind provides clean energy.
• The city wants more clean buses.
• Can clean technology reduce air pollution?

Similar words: nonpolluting

Opposites: polluting

Common phrases: clean energy, clean technology, clean fuel

Following the rules and behaving fairly, especially in a sport.

• It was a clean game.
• The referee judged it a clean tackle.
• Both teams promised to keep the match clean.

Similar words: fair

Opposites: dirty

Common phrases: clean game, clean tackle, clean fight

Having no writing, marks, or past problems, so you can begin again.

• Take a clean sheet of paper.
• She moved away for a clean start.
• Can we begin again with a clean slate?

Similar words: fresh, blank

Common phrases: clean sheet, clean slate, clean start

Simple, neat, and smoothly shaped, with no unnecessary parts.

• The website has a clean design.
• I like the clean lines of this chair.
• The new layout looks clean and simple.

Similar words: neat, uncluttered

Opposites: cluttered

Common phrases: clean design, clean lines, clean layout

An occasion when dirt is removed from something.

• The kitchen needs a clean.
• I gave the windows a thorough clean.
• We spent Saturday doing a spring clean.

Similar words: cleaning

Common phrases: a good clean, a thorough clean, a spring clean

To remove dirt from a place or object.

• Please clean the table.
• She cleaned her glasses with a soft cloth.
• Have you cleaned the bathroom yet?

How to use it: clean something with something (Clean the table with a damp cloth.)

Similar words: wash, scrub

Opposites: dirty

Common phrases: clean the floor, clean a window, clean with something, clean the house

To put things in their proper places and make a place neat.

• Clean your room before dinner.
• He cleaned his desk and put the books away.
• We cleaned the house before our guests arrived.

Similar words: tidy, tidy up

Opposites: mess up

Common phrases: clean your room, clean up, clean the house