cleanlier; cleanliest
1
: careful to keep clean : fastidious
2
: habitually kept clean
Examples of cleanly in a Sentence
Adverb
A sharp knife will cut through the skin of a tomato cleanly.
This fuel burns more cleanly than other fuels.
Recent Examples on the Web
Robert Wyss, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2025
Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood—like all biological states, from autism to Alzheimer’s—exist on a spectrum, not as cleanly bounded stages.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
The folding handles close away neatly into side recesses to create flush sides that store cleanly side by side.
—New Atlas, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cleanly
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Adverb
The report said residents and industry should either pay more to buy coal with less sulfur or other fuel, or pay for and install new equipment to burn the sulfur-rich coal more cleanly.
—Robert Wyss, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2025
Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood—like all biological states, from autism to Alzheimer’s—exist on a spectrum, not as cleanly bounded stages.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Whoever wins cleanly leaves with both the championship belts.
—Matthew Couden, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
The folding handles close away neatly into side recesses to create flush sides that store cleanly side by side.
—New Atlas, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cleanly
Cite this Entry
“Cleanly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cleanly. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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