1
: sharply outlined : distinct
2
: free from ambiguity or uncertainty : unambiguous
a clear-cut decision
: an area of forest in which all the trees have been cut down
But the logging has been concentrated in the high-volume old-growth forest, and clear-cuts are spread over almost every one of the region's watersheds.—
Catherine Caufield
Catherine Caufield
also
: clear-cutting
clear-cut; clear-cutting
: to cut down all the trees in (an area of forest)
He says there has been a massive deforestation as the Chinese have clear-cut millions of acres of Tibetan Forests to sell lumber on the export market …—Daniel Goleman
Daniel Goleman… native rain forest experts who harvest plants for traditional healers, make from two to 10 times per hectare the income of a farmer who clear-cuts the forest for planting crops.—Cathy Sears and Robert Neuwirth
Cathy Sears and Robert NeuwirthExamples of clear-cut in a Sentence
Adjective
a clear-cut case of plagiarism that resulted in her immediate dismissal
clear-cut instructions that even an idiot should be able to follow
Recent Examples on the Web
Zev Fima, CNBC, 12 Dec. 2025
Jaylen Brown meeting the moment This is the first time in his 10 NBA seasons that Brown is Boston’s clear-cut No. 1 option.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 8 Dec. 2025
On technology, a bipartisan majority of 68 percent supported a major increase in federal spending to develop the Golden Dome system to protect the U.S. homeland against long-range missile threats, but public views on artificial intelligence were less clear-cut.
—Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025
In storytelling, the roads to pure evil or to victimhood are frequently clear-cut, but the journey of a person who is slowly recruited into complicity is a subtler thing.
—The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clear-cut
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Adjective
In the end, Thursday’s after-hours selloff was more about investor concern with a potential bearish scenario in the future, in which key customers move development in-house, rather than anything clear-cut that would impact Broadcom’s business outlook.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 12 Dec. 2025
Jaylen Brown meeting the moment This is the first time in his 10 NBA seasons that Brown is Boston’s clear-cut No. 1 option.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 8 Dec. 2025
On technology, a bipartisan majority of 68 percent supported a major increase in federal spending to develop the Golden Dome system to protect the U.S. homeland against long-range missile threats, but public views on artificial intelligence were less clear-cut.
—Robert Birsel, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025
In storytelling, the roads to pure evil or to victimhood are frequently clear-cut, but the journey of a person who is slowly recruited into complicity is a subtler thing.
—The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clear-cut
Cite this Entry
“Clear-cut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clear-cut. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
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