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tidy. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
tidy, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
tidy in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
tidy you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English tidy, tydy, tidi (“timely, seasonal, opportune”), from tide (“time”) + -y. Cognate with Dutch tijdig (“timely”), Middle Low German tīdich (“timely”), German zeitig (“seasonal, timely”), Danish tidig (“timely”), Swedish tidig (“timely”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
tidy (comparative tidier, superlative tidiest)
- Arranged neatly and in order.
Keep Britain tidy by picking up litter.
- Not messy; neat and controlled.
- (colloquial) Satisfactory; comfortable.
- (colloquial) Generous, considerable.
The scheme made a tidy profit.
c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama , Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act 1:Two hundred thousand people! Miss Glory, that's a tidy lot. Not bad.
- (obsolete) In good time; at the right time; timely; seasonable; opportune; favourable; fit; suitable.
1573, Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry:if weather be fair and tidy
- (obsolete) Brave; smart; skillful; fine; good.
- Appropriate or suitable as regards occasion, circumstances, arrangement, or order.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
arranged neatly
- Afrikaans: netjies (af)
- Armenian: կոկիկ (hy) (kokik)
- Bulgarian: спретнат (bg) (spretnat), подреден (bg) (podreden)
- Catalan: endreçat (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 整齊/整齐 (zh) (zhěngqí)
- Czech: uklizený
- Danish: ordentlig (da), opryddet
- Dutch: net (nl), proper (nl), rein (nl)
- Finnish: siisti (fi)
- French: ordonné (fr)
- German: sauber (de), ordentlich (de)
- Greek: τακτοποιημένος (el) (taktopoiiménos), νοικοκυρεμένος (el) (noikokyreménos), περιποιημένος (el) (peripoiiménos), φροντισμένος (el) (frontisménos)
- Ancient: κόσμιος (kósmios)
- Irish: cúirialta
- Italian: ordinato (it) m
- Japanese: きちんとした (kichinto shita), こざっぱりした (kozappari shita)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: پاک و تەمیز (pak û temîz)
- Latin: mundus
- Malagasy: milamina (mg)
- Maori: nahanaha, pūhangaiti
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: эмх цэгцтэй (emx cegctej)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: ryddig (no)
- Nynorsk: ryddig
- Persian: پاکیزه (fa) (pâkize)
- Plautdietsch: krakjt
- Polish: schludny (pl) m
- Portuguese: limpo (pt), ordenado (pt), arrumado (pt)
- Russian: аккура́тный (ru) (akkurátnyj), опря́тный (ru) (oprjátnyj), чи́стый (ru) (čístyj)
- Scots: dink
- Scottish Gaelic: cunbhalach
- Slovak: úhľadný, usporiadaný, upravený
- Spanish: ordenado (es), pulcro (es), prolijo (es)
- Thai: เรียบร้อย (th) (rîiap-rɔ́ɔi)
- Welsh: taclus (cy)
- Yiddish: זויבער (zoyber), ציכטיק (tsikhtik)
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Verb
tidy (third-person singular simple present tidies, present participle tidying, simple past and past participle tidied)
- To make tidy; to neaten.
Derived terms
Translations
to make tidy
- Afrikaans: opruim
- Bulgarian: подреждам (bg) (podreždam), разтребвам (bg) (raztrebvam)
- Catalan: endreçar (ca), ordenar (ca), netejar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 整理 (zh) (zhěnglǐ), 收拾 (zh) (shōushi)
- Dutch: opruimen (nl), schoonmaken (nl)
- Finnish: siistiä (fi)
- Galician: limpar (gl), ordenar (gl)
- German: aufräumen (de), säubern (de), ordnen (de)
- Hungarian: takarít (hu)
- Japanese: 片付ける (ja) (かたづける, katazukeru)
- Kazakh: реттеу (retteu)
- Malagasy: mandamina (mg)
- Maori: rau(w)iri (of a garden with weeds), whakapaipai, whakaraupapa (systematise), tātai
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: цэгцлэх (mn) (cegclex)
- Persian: مرتب کردن (fa)
- Polish: sprzątać (pl) impf
- Russian: убира́ть (ru) (ubirátʹ), приводи́ть в поря́док (privodítʹ v porjádok), (informal) наводи́ть чистоту (navodítʹ čistotu)
- Slovak: upraviť
- Spanish: ordenar (es)
- Welsh: tacluso (cy)
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Noun
tidy (plural tidies)
- A tabletop container for pens and stationery.
a desk tidy
- A cover, often of tatting, drawn work, or other ornamental work, for the back of a chair, the arms of a sofa, etc.
- (dated) A child's pinafore.
1846, Miss Lambert, The Handbook of Needlework:A much coarser cotton , according to the fancy of the worker , may be used for the trimmings of night dresses , petticoats , D'Oyleys , tidies, etc.
- The wren.
1612, Michael Drayton, chapter 13, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, , London: H L for Mathew Lownes; I. Browne; I. Helme; I. Busbie, published 1613, →OCLC:The Tydie for her notes as delicate as they
Derived terms
Translations
tabletop container for pens and stationery
Interjection
tidy
- (Wales) Expression of agreement or positive acknowledgement, usually in reply to a question; great, fine.