Meaning & use
declutter
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To remove unnecessary things from a place so that it looks tidier and is easier to use.
Grammar: With an object: declutter the garage. Without one: we need to declutter.
Patterns
- declutter something
- declutter your home
She spent the weekend decluttering the spare bedroom.
If you declutter the desk, you will find things faster.
We decided to declutter before the movers arrived.
verbtransitivefigurative
To simplify something non-physical, such as a schedule, screen or design, by removing what is not needed.
Grammar: Takes an object: declutter your inbox.
Patterns
- declutter your mind
- declutter something
He decluttered his phone by deleting a hundred unused apps.
A short walk helps me declutter my mind.
The designers decluttered the homepage to make it easier to read.
Word forms
| third person singular | declutters |
|---|---|
| past tense | decluttered |
| past participle | decluttered |
| -ing form | decluttering |
Common combinations
- declutter your home
- Many people declutter their home in spring.
- declutter your life
- She wrote a book on how to declutter your life.
- declutter a room
- We decluttered the room by donating old books.
- declutter your desk
- Declutter your desk and you may work more calmly.
- declutter your mind
- Writing a list helps me declutter my mind.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tidy up
- This is more general and can just mean putting things in order, while declutter stresses getting rid of surplus items.
- clear out
- This is more physical and informal, and means emptying a space of its contents, not necessarily keeping the rest neat.
- organize
- This means arranging things in a system, which may involve keeping everything, whereas declutter involves removing.
- simplify
- This is broader and can apply to ideas or processes, and does not suggest throwing out objects.
Opposites
Word family
- clutter noun
- a mess of untidy objects
- clutter verb
- to fill a place untidily
- cluttered adjective
- full of untidy things
- decluttering noun
- the process of removing unneeded things
Commonly confused: declutter or declutter vs. declutch?
declutter vs declutter vs. declutch
To declutch is to disengage a car's clutch, which has nothing to do with tidying.
Practice
Before moving house, they decided to ______ the attic and give away old toys.
Choose one answer.
Declutter means to remove unneeded items. Decorate means to make attractive, which does not match giving things away, and the other two words do not apply to a room.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “declutter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.