Synonyms for clean
- adjective
- adverb
- verb
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Clear
clear, immaculate, spotless, unsullied, perfect, pristine, unstained, just, innocent, uncontaminated, plain, light, untarnished, legible, undefiled, righteous, virtuous, chaste, upright, moral, blameless, spick-and-span
2. Pure — utter, complete, total; pure; free from restraint
pure, pyore US, complete, unspotted, white, stainless, out-and-out, regular, total, blank, downright, consummate, utter, unqualified, sheer dated, unbesmirched rare
4. Sporty
Other
tidy, neat, fresh, fair, scrubbed, thorough-going, sleek, kosher, antiseptic, streamlined, clean-living, well-proportioned
Adverb
1. Perfectly
perfectly, quite, thoroughly, completely, fully, entirely, wholly, altogether, plumb, plum
Verb
Other
sweep, make clean, pick, strip, scavenge
Definitions
- adj. 1
Utter, complete, total; pure; free from restraint.
- adj. 2
Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
- adv. 1
Fully and completely.
He was stabbed clean through.
- v. 1
To remove dirt from a place or object.
Can you clean the windows today?
Related words
Forms
- Past participle
- cleaned
e.g. cleaned → cleansed, scrubbed, purified, scoured…
Choose the right word
To clean is to make clean by removing dirt, impurities, or soil of any kind. Cleanse implies a worse condition to start from, and more to do, than clean.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- perfect A sunny weekend is perfect for a mountain getaway.
- immaculate Skura is running an immaculate household in Algiers.
- spotless After an hour's cleaning, the bath was spotless.
- unsullied Her reputation remained unsullied.
- blank Arthur just stares at a blank wall for meditation.
- neat No one is so poor that he cannot afford to be neat.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| clean | rising | |
| perfect | rising | |
| immaculate | rising | |
| spotless | rising | |
| unsullied | rising | |
| blank | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- just1, pick1, fair1, pure1, void1, neat1, tidy2, plum1
- 5 letters
- white1, light1, quite1, clear1, total2, fully2, fresh1, empty2, moral2, plain1, strip1, blank1, sheer1, sweep1
- 6 letters
- fairly2, vacant2, wholly2, kosher2, sporty2, purify3, chaste1
- 7 letters
- perfect2, regular3, upright2, cleanse1, cleanly2, legible3
- 8 letters
- complete2, entirely4, innocent3, sporting2, pristine2, virtuous3, spotless2, scrubbed1, scavenge2
- 9 letters
- perfectly3, righteous2, stainless2, downright2, blameless2, unsullied3, unstained2, undefiled, unspotted
- 10 letters
- completely3, thoroughly3, altogether4, immaculate4, consummate3, antiseptic4
- 11 letters
- streamlined2, unqualified4, untarnished
- 12 letters
- unbesmirched
- 13 letters
- sportsmanlike
- 14 letters
- uncontaminated6
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (tidy2 = 2 syllables).