neat

Use the word "neat" to describe something that is clean and organized. The word "neat" is an adjective:

• Their apartment is very neat.
• My desk isn’t neat. There’s a lot of junk on it.
• Alice and Randy live in a neat neighborhood. The houses and yards are well maintained.
• Carl’s suit is neat and clean.
• It’s hard to keep little kids looking neat and clean for very long. They get dirty fast.
• This store is neat and tidy. Everything is easy to find. Everything is well organized.

He likes to keep his place neat and clean.

You can also use "neat" to describe something you like or something that you admire:

• This is a neat restaurant. Look at how it’s decorated with 1950s furniture and all the stuff on the walls.
• That’s a neat car. I wish I could afford to buy it.
• That was a neat trick. How did you do that?

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First published on March 11, 2012