in a pleasingly orderly and clean condition: a neat room.
habitually orderly and clean in appearance or habits: a neat person.
of a simple, pleasing appearance, style, design, etc.: a neat cottage.
cleverly effective in character or execution: a neat scheme; a neat solution.
Slang. great; wonderful; fine: What a neat car!
clever, dexterous, or apt: She gave a neat characterization of the old woman.
straight (def. 16).
Building Trades.
(of cement) without sand or other aggregate.
(of plaster) without any admixture except hair or fiber.
net: neat profits.
adverb
Informal. neatly.
Origin of neat
1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English net “spruce, trim, clean,” from Middle French, from Latin nitidus “shining, polished, handsome, spruce,” equivalent to nit(ēre) “to shine” + -idus adjective suffix; see -id4
SYNONYMS FOR neat
1 spruce, smart.
4 well-planned.
6 adroit.
7 unmixed, pure.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR neat ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR neat
1 sloppy.
6 maladroit.
7 mixed.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR neat ON THESAURUS.COM
OTHER WORDS FROM neat
neatly,adverbneatness,noun
Words nearby neat
near-term, near thing, near threatened, nearthrosis, near to one's heart, neat, neaten, neath, neatherd, Neath Port Talbot, neat line
Definition for neat (2 of 2)
neat2
[ neet ]
/ nit /
noun,pluralneat.
an animal of the genus Bos; a bovine, as a cow or ox.
Origin of neat
2
before 900; Middle English neet,Old English nēat, cognate with Old Norse naut,Middle Dutch noot; akin to Old English nēotan to use, possess
The liqueur also stands up well on its own, so sip it neat after dinner or drizzle it over a slice of cake or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an unforgettable dessert.
Why you should be adding salt to your cocktails|By Céline Bossart/Saveur|September 4, 2020|Popular Science
Finally the hydrofoils started producing neat rings up to about a foot wide.
An Unexpected Twist Lights Up the Secrets of Turbulence|David H. Freedman|September 3, 2020|Quanta Magazine
I think it’s neat to see the trajectory for a lot of people when I talk to them about my book, the briefing, they’ll say, “I never realized how you got there or how someone could do that.”
Full Transcript: Sean Spicer on ‘The Carlos Watson Show’|Daniel Malloy|August 26, 2020|Ozy
So I finally asked about it and he explained to me that it was a term of endearment that you might use for, you know, a romantic partner or a family member, um, even a co-worker or a pet and I just thought that was so neat.
How Do You Use The Term “Schatzi”?|Candice Bradley|June 27, 2020|Everything After Z
Because there are some very, very neat advantages of scaling.
Policymaking Is Not a Science (Yet) (Ep. 405)|Stephen J. Dubner|February 13, 2020|Freakonomics
In a neat line, his agent, beginning a bidding war, promised: “Michiko Kakutani will flip for this.”
What On Earth Is ‘The Affair’ About? Season One’s Baffling Finale|Tim Teeman|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The soldiers in 2nd Platoon, Blackfoot Company discovered his rifle, helmet, body armor and web gear in a neat stack.
We Lost Soldiers in the Hunt for Bergdahl, a Guy Who Walked Off in the Dead of Night|Nathan Bradley Bethea|June 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In it he arrives at (as well as departs from; neat feat) the startling notion of the Great War as one that was pre-mourned.
Geoff Dyer at Sea: Unmoored but on Target|Melissa Holbrook Pierson|May 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Senator Paul also scorned “labels” and the tendency to corral politicians and thinkers into neat, ideological camps.
Is Rand Paul a Secret Hawk? Or Maybe Not a Total Dove?|James Kirchick|May 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She brings her own tea bags in a neat Ziploc bag, and I am mildly awed at her preparedness and chutzpah.
Marlo Thomas Says Girls Should Feel Free to Be Like Hannah Horvath|Emily Shire|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A great part of our comfort within doors depends upon our apartments being kept clean and neat.
An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. I (of 4)|William Kirby
I should like you to be neat when Dr. Renton arrives, and he will probably have tea with me.
Dimbie and I--and Amelia|Mabel Barnes-Grundy
No conventional and hideous hat or bonnet disfigures the neat outline of their heads.
A War-time Journal, Germany 1914 and German Travel Notes|Harriet Julia Jephson
Elvin stared in disbelief at the neat square of tropical jungle rising cleanly in the heart of San Benedicto.
Adolescents Only|Irving E. Cox
Otoyo and Judy and Molly folded the gauze into the neat little six-inch squares.
Molly Brown's College Friends|Nell Speed
British Dictionary definitions for neat (1 of 2)
neat1
/ (niːt) /
adjective
clean, tidy, and orderly
liking or insisting on order and cleanliness; fastidious
smoothly or competently done; efficienta neat job
pat or slickhis excuse was suspiciously neat
(of alcoholic drinks) without added water, lemonade, etc; undiluted
a less common word for net 2neat profits
slang, mainlyUS and Canadiangood; pleasing; admirable
Derived forms of neat
neatly, adverbneatness, noun
Word Origin for neat
C16: from Old French net, from Latin nitidus clean, shining, from nitēre to shine; related to Middle Irish niam beauty, brightness, Old Persian naiba- beautiful