clean-shaven

adjective

clean-shav·​en ˈklēn-ˈshā-vən 

: having the hair shaved off

His colorful language is as much a part of his image as his clean-shaven head and bulging biceps.

—Roman Modrowski

especially : having a shaved face : having no beard or mustache

Her ideal mate is at least 6-foot-3, athletic and either clean-shaven or sporting a nice goatee.

—Ebony

Examples of clean-shaven in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The victim described a perpetrator who was 24 to 25 years old, skinny and clean-shaven, with a clear speaking voice. — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2026

When the show returned from a commercial, Colbert was back to his clean-shaven self. — Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2026

Colbert had no hesitation about taking the tool to his facial hair, shaving it off and returning to his recognizable clean-shaven look. — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2026

While Gibbons and Hill were known for their long, scraggly beards, Beard himself, somewhat ironically, usually went clean-shaven or only sported a mustache. — CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for clean-shaven

• engraven
• unshaven
• craven
• flavin
• graven
• haven
• maven
• pavan
• raven
• shaven
• riboflavin