Word.ws English Dictionary

cleanly

/ˈklɛnli//ˈkliːnli/

cleanly adjective: being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.

Adjective

cleanly (comparative cleanlier or more cleanly, superlative cleanliest or most cleanly)

  1. Being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.
    • I'l now lead you to an honeſt Ale-houſe, where we ſhall find a cleanly room, Lavender in the windowes, and twenty Ballads ſtuck about the wall; […]1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter II, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC...
    • [H]is lov'd partner boaſtful of her hoard,
      Diſplays the cleanly platter on the board; […]1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765), Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 11
  2. (obsolete) Cleansing; fitted to remove moisture; dirt, etc.
    • In our Fantaſtic Climes the Fair / With cleanly Powder dry their Hair: […]1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, canto II, page 354
  3. (obsolete) Adroit; dexterous; artful.
    • Yet at the laſt (ſo well he him applyde,) / Through his fine handling, and cleanly play, / He all thoſe royall ſignes had ſtolne away, / And with the Foxes helpe them borne aſide, / Into a ſecret corner vneſpide.1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC, signature P2...

Adverb

cleanly (comparative cleanlier or more cleanly, superlative cleanliest or most cleanly)

  1. In a clean way, neatly.
    • He was very cleanly dressed, in a blue coat, striped waistcoat, and nankeen trowsers; […]1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “I Make another Beginning”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 157
  2. Not causing a mess or unnecessary damage.
    • We agreed to break off our relationship cleanly.
    • Fortunately, the bullet passed cleanly through your shoulder.
  3. Innocently; without stain.
    • If I do growe great, ile growe leſſe, for ile purge and leaue Sacke, and liue cleanlie as a noble man ſhould do.c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]...
  4. Adroitly; dexterously
    • The boy will do well certain : give him grace To have a quick hand and convey things cleanlyc. 1616, Thomas Middleton, The Witch

cleanly meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and Kannada

cleanly in Tamil

தூய்மையாக

cleanly in Marathi

स्वच्छपणे

cleanly in Malayalam

ശുചിത്വമുള്ള, പവിത്രമായ, നിർമ്മലം, വൃത്തിയുള്ള, ശരീരശുദ്ധിയുള്ള

cleanly in Kannada

ಸ್ವಚ್ಛವಾಗಿ

Examples of cleanly in a sentence

  • There were some flat slabs of rock in the centre, with an excellent well close by, and there we sat in cleanly comfort while we made our first plans for the invasion of this new country.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘The most Wonderful Things have Happened’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton...
  • Being of a very cleanly habit, he was constantly rubbing himself in order to preserve the whiteness of his skin unsullied.1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 16:

All 17 example sentences with cleanly

Synonyms of cleanly

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of cleanly

Forms of cleanly

Adjective
comparativecleanlier
comparativemore cleanly
superlativecleanliest
superlativemost cleanly
alternative formclenly
Adverb
comparativecleanlier
comparativemore cleanly
superlativecleanliest
superlativemost cleanly

Origin of cleanly

From Middle English clenly, clenliche, clanly, from Old English clǣnlīċ (“cleanly, pure, excellent”), equivalent to clean + -ly.

From Middle English clenly, clenli, clenliche, from Old English clǣnlīċe (“cleanly”), equivalent to clean + -ly.

Words formed from cleanly

Words that rhyme with cleanly

Questions about cleanly

What does cleanly mean?
Cleanly means being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.
What is cleanly in Tamil?
Cleanly in Tamil is தூய்மையாக. See Cleanly meaning in Tamil.
How do you use cleanly in a sentence?
There were some flat slabs of rock in the centre, with an excellent well close by, and there we sat in cleanly comfort while we made our first plans for the invasion of this new country.
What part of speech is cleanly?
Cleanly can be an adjective or an adverb.
How do you pronounce cleanly?
Cleanly is pronounced /ˈklɛnli/.

Words near cleanly in the dictionary

  1. cleanliest
  2. cleanlily
  3. cleanliness
  4. cleanliness is next to godliness
  5. cleanlinesses
  6. cleanly
  7. cleanness
  8. cleannesses
  9. cleanout
  10. cleanouts
  11. cleanroom

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cleanly (page history and authors); cleanly (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cleanly (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); cleanly (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cleanly (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cleanly2.wav.

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