cleanly

American  

[klen-lee, kleen-lee] / ˈklɛn li, ˈklin li /

adjective

cleanlier, cleanliest

1. personally neat; careful to keep or make clean.

   The cat is by nature a cleanly animal.

2. habitually kept clean.

3. Obsolete. cleansing; making clean.

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adverb

1. in a clean manner.

cleanly British  

/ ˈklɛnlɪnɪs, ˈklɛnlɪlɪ /

adverb

1. in a fair manner

2. easily or smoothly

   the screw went into the wood cleanly

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adjective

1. habitually clean or neat

Other Word Forms

• cleanlily adverb
• cleanliness noun

Etymology

Origin of cleanly

before 900; Middle English clenlich ( e ), Old English clǣnlīc, equivalent to clǣne clean + -līc -ly

Example Sentences

The England wing took the first cleanly and tapped the second back to Joe Heyes.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

Each slice cuts cleanly, like something that has been thought through.

From Salon • Mar. 11, 2026

The protein needed to switch cleanly between active and inactive states for the cell to survive.

From Science Daily • Mar. 9, 2026

Levito skated cleanly but enters Thursday’s free skate in seventh.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026

The boats got off cleanly at the start and stayed clustered together for the first hundred yards.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown