Meaning & use

clean-cut

adjective·Everyday

Neat, well-groomed, and conventional in appearance, often suggesting respectability or wholesomeness.

See it in a sentence

The company wanted a clean-cut spokesperson who would appeal to conservative customers.

He arrived at the interview looking clean-cut in a pressed suit and short haircut.

A note on using this word

Clean-cut usually describes appearance and demeanor together, implying both tidiness and conventional respectability.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

scruffyunkempt

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