crystal clear

Adjective

crystal clear (comparative more crystal clear or (rare) crystal clearer, superlative most crystal clear or (rare) crystal clearest)

1. (idiomatic, simile) Without ambiguity or doubt; completely understood.
   • Reread through the manual until the instructions are crystal clear in your head.
   • Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings?1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   clear as crystal

2. (idiomatic, simile) Visually clear, a sharp image, of high acuity.
   • The picture on this TV is crystal clear – you can see every grain of sand!
   • The key is that only the original negative can produce the crystal clearest photographic image.2007, David Rudd Cycleback, Judging the Authenticity of Photographs: The Basics for Collectors, Cycleback.com, →ISBN, page 111

   Synonyms:

   clear as crystal

3. (idiomatic, simile) Very translucent or transparent.
   • On the lowest level are broad meadow lands, through which wanders a stream of the most crystal clear water imaginable.1893, Charles F[orbes] Warner, editor, Picturesque Berkshire, part I (North), Northampton, Mass.: Picturesque Publishing Company; Springfield, Mass.: The W. F. Adams Company, page 84
   • Near by, where the crystal clear River Llugwy is crossed by a bridge, stands a small and ancient church built of massive, irregular boulders.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 100

   Synonyms:

   clear as crystal

4. (idiomatic, simile) Having no clouds.
   • Whence it comes that even in the crystal clearest weather Madeira’s sunshine spectrum is inordinately full of water-vapour stopped lines, the sun’s direct rays, though to general observation luminous enough, are signally deprived of their proper scorching heat, and the temperature range of the...1882 May 1, C[harles] Piazzi Smyth, Madeira Meteorologic: Being a Paper on the Above Subject Read Before the Royal Society, Edinburgh, on 1st of May 1882, Edinburgh: David Douglas, pages 31–32
   • Jones Beach Pond on Long Island, so close to New York that the tops of the Empire State and the Chrysler Building can be seen on the horizon on crystal clear days, is one of the best shore-bird resorts I know.1948, Roger Coty Peterson, Birds Over America, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, page 309

   Synonyms:

   clear as crystal

5. (idiomatic, simile) Aurally clear.
   • There is still space available for the STARFIRE BAND performance featuring the crystal clearest, cleanest Pittsburgh Born and Bred Alto Vocals of the sensational Miss Judi Figel in our Summer Street Dance and Al Fresco Dining (inside if rain) series Music & Dancing 7-11 P.M1999 July 30, “D’Imperio’s”, in Weekend Mag (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Pittsburgh, Pa., page 33
   • With the slightly nasal, melodic whine of Wooten’s crystal clear vocals this song has a catchy sound to it that guarantees that it has potential to be an ear-bug.2004 March 8, Cameron J. Woods, “‘Bloody lovely’ music: New band worth a little money”, in The Daily Collegian, volume CXIV, number 1, Amherst, Mass.: University of Massachusetts Amherst, page 4...

   Synonyms:

   clear as crystal