tidy

Clean and neat, with things in their proper places.

• Your room looks tidy.
• We kept the kitchen tidy all week.
• Is the house tidy enough for visitors?

Similar words: neat, orderly

Opposites: untidy, messy

Common phrases: tidy room, keep something tidy, neat and tidy, tidy desk

Someone who likes keeping things clean and in their proper places.

• My brother is very tidy.
• She has always been a tidy person.
• Are your new flatmates tidy?

Similar words: neat, orderly

Opposites: untidy, messy

Common phrases: tidy person, tidy child, tidy by nature

Quite large, especially when talking about an amount of money.

• The car cost a tidy sum.
• They made a tidy profit selling furniture.
• She earned a tidy fortune from her books.

Similar words: considerable, substantial, sizeable

Common phrases: tidy sum, tidy profit, tidy fortune

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

• Please tidy your room.
• I tidied the kitchen after lunch.
• Have you tidied up yet?

How to use it: tidy something up (Please tidy your bedroom up before dinner.); tidy something away (We tidied the toys away after the children left.)

Similar words: tidy up, straighten up, put in order

Opposites: mess up

Common phrases: tidy up, tidy a room, tidy something away

A small container or device that keeps loose things together and in order.

• Put your pens in the desk tidy.
• We bought a sink tidy for our brushes.
• These cable tidies keep the wires together.

Similar words: organizer, holder

Common phrases: desk tidy, sink tidy, cable tidy