Meaning & use
clean freak
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
Someone who is unusually eager to keep things clean and tidy, and who often cleans more than most people do.
Grammar: Countable: use a/an or a plural, as in 'She's a clean freak' or 'My two flatmates are clean freaks.'
Patterns
- a clean freak about something
- be a clean freak
My brother is such a clean freak that he wipes the kitchen counters three times a day.
She jokes that she's a clean freak, but honestly her flat is just very tidy.
Being a clean freak about the bathroom is not a bad thing when you share a house.
nouncountableinformal
A person who cannot relax unless a room or object is spotless.
Grammar: Often used after 'such a' for emphasis: 'He's such a clean freak.'
Patterns
- such a clean freak
- a real clean freak
He's a real clean freak and starts vacuuming the moment guests leave.
As a clean freak, she notices every fingerprint on the glass table.
Word forms
| plural | clean freaks |
|---|
Common combinations
- a total clean freak
- My roommate is a total clean freak and mops the floor every evening.
- be a clean freak about something
- He's a clean freak about the kitchen but never touches the living room.
- such a clean freak
- You're such a clean freak — the sink is already spotless.
- admit to being a clean freak
- She admits to being a clean freak, though her desk says otherwise.
- a bit of a clean freak
- I'm a bit of a clean freak when I'm stressed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- neat freak
- Very close in meaning, but it stresses order and tidiness more than actual scrubbing and washing.
- perfectionist
- Wider and more neutral: it can be about work, looks or cleaning, whereas 'clean freak' is only about cleanliness.
- house-proud
- More approving and British-sounding; it means you take pride in your home, not that you clean obsessively.
Opposites
Word family
- clean adjective
- Free from dirt or marks; the base word inside this compound.
- cleanliness noun
- The state of being clean; what a clean freak cares about most.
- cleaner noun
- A person or substance that cleans, such as a window cleaner.
Commonly confused: clean freak or neat freak?
clean freak vs neat freak
Similar, but 'neat freak' is about keeping things arranged and orderly, while 'clean freak' is about removing dirt and germs.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'clean freak' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Clean freak' is a countable noun for a person, so 'She's a clean freak' fits. Option 0 gives the quality to a car, option 2 uses it as a verb, and option 3 needs 'clean freaks' or 'a clean freak' after 'are'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “clean freak”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.