Word.ws English Dictionary

clean

/kliːn//kliːn/

clean adjective: free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.

Adjective

clean (comparative cleaner, superlative cleanest)

  1. Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
    • Are these dishes clean?
      Your room is finally clean!
      For a baby, happiness is a full bottle and a clean diaper.
    • Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans...
    1. Of metal, having relatively few impurities.
      • clean steel
    2. (slang) Not muscular due to steroid use.
      • I don't think he's clean, look at those traps.
  2. Free of contamination, (unwanted) germs, infection, or disease.
    • Insert a clean swab into your nose.
    • "Serious as cognitohazard." Lillihammer danced down the corridor towards them, doing little pirouettes and leaping from toe to toe. "Reuben Wirth no longer exists. Gonna have to get Forsythe to do that brain scan to make sure I'm clean, but otherwise yeah. Poof."2023 October 14, HarryBlank, “Face Time”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024
    1. Devoid of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
      • I want to make sure my fiancé is clean before we are married.
  3. (slang) Of a victory or performance: without any blemishes such as submission holds, disqualification, interference, etc.
    • Our team won, but it wasn't clean.
  4. Of a route, ascended without falling.
  5. Free from that which is useless or injurious; without defects.
    • clean land
    • clean timber
  6. In an unmarked condition; blank.
    • Put a clean sheet of paper into the printer.
  7. Pure, especially morally or religiously.
    • Our kids can watch this movie because it is clean.
    • Create in me a clean heart, O God.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 51:10
  8. Not using drugs or alcohol.
    • go clean
    • I've been clean this time for eight months.
  9. Free from (or showing no signs of) corrupt, unlawful, and/or sinister conduct or connections (and (of criminal, driving, etc. records) therefore without restrictions or penalties).
    • It was my dream to be a Soviet spy. The vetting process started, and I was “clean”: no Jews in either my background or my wife's, no relatives abroad, already a member of the Soviet Communist Party, high marks on exams, three foreign languages, no dissident inclinations[…]2009 May 26, John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, Alexander Vassiliev, Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America, Yale University Press, →ISBN
    • "If the Tramells hadn't passed away, we still wouldn't know. The background check was clean." "How can it be clean, for fuck's sake?" I knocked back the whiskey in one swallow. "Eva's mother used Monica's name, birthdate, and family history, but she never opened a line of credit, which is how most...2016 April 5, Sylvia Day, One with You, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN
  10. (informal) Not in possession of weapons or contraband such as drugs.
    • I'm clean, officer. You can go ahead and search me if you want.
  11. (informal) Devoid of profanity.
  12. Free of infiltration by covert listening or recording devices (bugs), enemy spies, etc.
    • We are currently clean on OPSEC.
    • "[Are you sure the] room is clean?" "As a whistle. It's swept at irregular intervals every week." "That still leaves time to plant a bug[…]"1989, Gayle Rivers, The Killing House, Jove Books, →ISBN
Show 8 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. Empty.
    • The cargo hold is clean.
    • The condo was stripped clean by the previous tenant.
  2. Smooth, exact, and performed well.
    • I'll need a sharper knife to make clean cuts.
    • a clean leap over a fence
  3. That does not damage the environment (as much as some alternative).
    • clean energy
    • clean coal
  4. Allowing an uninterrupted flow over surfaces, without protrusions such as racks or landing gear.
  5. Having the undercarriage and flaps in the up position.
    Antonyms:
    dirty
  6. Well-proportioned; shapely.
    • clean limbs
  7. (informal) Cool or neat.
    • Wow, dude, those are some clean shoes ya got there!
  8. Utter, complete, total; pure; free from restraint.
    • a clean sweep
    • When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of corners of thy field.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 23:22

Noun

clean (plural cleans)

  1. A removal of dirt.
    • This place needs a clean.
    • Give the pan a thorough clean.
  2. The first part of the event clean and jerk in which the weight is brought from the ground to the shoulders.
  3. (in plural) Of heavy metal, clear vocals, contrasted with death growls and screams.
    • When people complained the songs were too hard, Kyle's clean vocals could bail out the band. Adding cleans would set off a chain reaction though - Kyle's crisp, clear presence could be seen as "betraying" the raw assault that Mike inflicts on the fans with his screams and growls.2014, T/James Reagan, Leeds House, Amazon Digital Services LLC, →ISBN, page 314
    • Vocalist Kaan is impeccable in his performance engaging with the crowd and soulfully executing both searing screams and hauntingly melodic cleans.2016, Jay Shields, “Tech Fest 2016”, in Fraser Mutch, editor, Elite Online Mag, number 78, page 155

Verb

clean (third-person singular simple present cleans, present participle cleaning, simple past and past participle cleaned)

  1. (transitive) To remove dirt from a place or object.
    • Can you clean the windows today?
  2. (transitive) To tidy up, make a place neat.
    • Clean your room right now!
  3. (intransitive) To make things clean in general.
    • She just likes to clean. That’s why I married her.
  4. (transitive) To remove equipment from a climbing route after it was previously lead climbed.
  5. (transitive) To remove unnecessary files, etc. from (a directory, etc.).
  6. (intransitive) To brush the ice lightly in front of a moving rock to remove any debris and ensure a correct line; less vigorous than a sweep.
  7. (slang) To purge a raw of any blemishes caused by the scanning process such as brown tinting and poor color contrast.
  8. (transitive) To lift a weight from the ground to one's shoulders.
    • Mike Aidala grunts as he cleans and presses 300 pounds up from the floor of his garage.2026, Greg Presto, “Timeless Gains”, in Men's Health, volume 41, number 2, page 14
  9. Synonym of clean up.
    Synonyms:
    clean up
  10. (transitive) To remove guts and/or scales of a butchered animal.
    • The fishmonger cleaned the mackerel.
  11. (slang) To beat, to thrash; to defeat.

Adverb

clean (comparative cleaner, superlative cleanest)

  1. Fully and completely.
    • He was stabbed clean through.
    • You must be clean mad.

Proper noun capitalized: Clean

Clean (plural Cleans)

  1. A surname.

clean meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

clean in Hindi

not dirty
साफ़ sāf, स्वच्छ svacch
(transitive) to remove dirt from a place or object
साफ़ करना sāf karnā
(transitive) to tidy up
साफ़ करना sāf karnā

clean in Tamil

not dirty
சுத்தம் cuttam
(transitive) to remove dirt from a place or object
சுத்தமாக்கு cuttamākku

clean in Marathi

not dirty
स्वच्छ svaccha, साफ sāph
removal of dirt
सफाई saphāī
(transitive) to remove dirt from a place or object
साफ करणे sāph karṇe
(transitive) to tidy up
साफ करणे sāph karṇe

clean in Urdu

not dirty
صاف sāf
More languagesFewer languages
clean in Bengali
পরিষ্কার poriśkar, সাফ śaph, সাফ করা śaph kora, পরিষ্কার করা poriśkar kora
clean in Telugu
శుభ్రం చేయు śubhraṁ cēyu
clean in Malayalam
വൃത്തിയായ vr̥ttiyāya, ശുദ്ധ śuddha, വൃത്തിയാക്കുക vr̥ttiyākkuka
clean in Kannada
ಚೊಕ್ಕ cokka, ನಿರಭ್ರ nirabhra
clean in Punjabi
ਸਾਫ਼ sāf, سُتْھرا suthrā, صاف ṣāf, صاف سُتْھرا ṣāf suthrā
clean in Gujarati
સાફ sāph, ચોખ્ખું cokhkhũ, ધોળું dhoḷũ
clean in Sanskrit
अमल amala, उज्ज्वल ujjvala, लघु laghú
clean in Sinhala
පිරිසුදු pirisudu
clean in Assamese
চফা sopha, চাফা sapha, চাফ চিকুণ saph sikun, চিকুণ sikun
clean in Nepali
सफा saphā, सफा गर्नु saphā garnu
clean in Pashto
پاک pâk
clean in Tagalog
malinis, linisin, linisan, ayusin
clean in Arabic
نَظِيف naẓīf, نضيف naḍīf, نَظَّفَ naẓẓafa
clean in Malay
bersih
clean in Indonesian
bersih
clean in Persian
پاک pâk, تمیز tamiz, تمیز کردن tamiz kardan
clean in Thai
สะอาด sà-àat, ล้าง láang, เช็ด chét, เก็บกวาด gèp-gwàat
clean in Vietnamese
sạch sẽ, sạch, lau, làm sạch
clean in Myanmar
သန့် san.
Sindhi
صاف sāf, صاف ڪرڻ ṣāf krṇ
Kashmiri
صاف sāf, صاف کَرُن sāf karun, پَوِتھٕر pavithụr, پاکھ pākh

Examples of clean in a sentence

  • Unlike you, I’ve never caused any accidents — my record is still clean!
  • Mister, I want to see a clean dinner plate or there'll be no dessert for you.
  • a clean left-footed shot into the top corner of the goal
  • The wave went clean over the old lighthouse.
  • Very fine, well-sorted, clean sand with no shells.1964, Coastal Engineering Research Center (U.S.), Technical Memorandum - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Research Center...
  • Scientists believe they have identified the world’s cleanest air, free from particles caused by human activity, located over the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica.2020 June 2, Amy Woodyatt, “Scientists say they have found the cleanest air on Earth”, in CNN:

All 40 example sentences with clean

Synonyms of clean

14 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of clean

Forms of clean

Adjective
comparativecleaner
superlativecleanest
alternative pronunciation-spellingclane
alternative form (obsolete)cleane
Noun
pluralcleans
Verb
third-person singular presentcleans
present participlecleaning
past participlecleaned
pastcleaned
Adverb
comparativecleaner
superlativecleanest
Proper noun
pluralCleans

Past tense of clean: cleaned

Plural of clean: cleans

Origin of clean

From Middle English clene, from Old English clāne, clǣne (“clean; pure; clear”), from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“dainty, fine, small; clean”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *glēy- (“gleaming”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to gleam”). Cognates Cognate with Alemannic German chlei, chli, chlii, chly, klei (“small”), Bavarian gloa, kla, klaa, kloa, kloan (“small; young; insignificant”), Central Franconian and Low German kleen (“small”), Cimbrian khlòan, khlumma (“small”), Dutch and German klein (“small”), Limburgish klein, kléïn (“small”), Luxembourgish kleng (“small”), Mòcheno khloa'n (“small”), Vilamovian klin (“small”), Yiddish קליין (kleyn, “small”), Danish klejn (“delicate, tiny”), Faroese klænur (“slight, slim, thin”), Icelandic klénn (“feeble, poor; indisposed; short; lame; good, pretty, snug”), Norwegian Bokmål klein, klen (“slender; sick; feeble; bad, poor, weak; inept”), Swedish klen (“weak”).

Words formed from clean

Phrases with clean

80 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with clean

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about clean

What does clean mean?
Clean means free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled.
What is clean in Hindi?
Clean in Hindi is साफ़ (sāf), स्वच्छ (svacch), साफ़ करना (sāf karnā). See Clean meaning in Hindi.
How do you use clean in a sentence?
Unlike you, I’ve never caused any accidents — my record is still clean!
What part of speech is clean?
Clean can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or an adverb.
How do you pronounce clean?
Clean is pronounced /kliːn/ (UK).

Words near clean in the dictionary

  1. cleadings
  2. cleam
  3. cleamed
  4. cleaming
  5. cleams
  6. clean
  7. clean and jerk
  8. clean and jerked
  9. clean and jerking
  10. clean and jerks
  11. clean as a bean

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: clean (page history and authors); Clean (page history and authors); ಚೊಕ್ಕ (Kannada) (page history and authors); ચોખ્ખું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); अमल (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-clean.ogg, en-us-clean.ogg.

Cite this entry: “clean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.