cluttered; cluttering; clutters
chiefly dialectal
: to run in disorder
: to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness
a room cluttered with toys
—often used with upToo many signs were cluttering up the street corner.
1
a
: a crowded or confused mass or collection
a clutter of motels and restaurants
b
: things that clutter a place
tried to minimize the unnecessary clutter in her house
2
: interfering radar echoes caused by reflection from objects (as on the ground) other than the target
3
chiefly dialectal
: disturbance, hubbub
Examples of clutter in a Sentence
Verb
The garage was cluttered with tools.
Try to avoid cluttering your desk with books and papers.
Noun
There's a lot of unnecessary clutter in the house.
a scrapbook that was a clutter of snapshots, diary entries, letters, and newspaper clippings
Recent Examples on the Web
Fahad Qadir, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
No butter knives struggling to slice through a solid rind or chef’s knives cluttering the spread.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 22 Apr. 2025
Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 24 Apr. 2025
Imagine a warehouse bot weaving through clutter, a retail robot answering customer queries, or a humanoid assembling intricate parts.
—Jack Kelly, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clutter
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Verb
This vast amount of data can clutter our minds and interrupt our ability to understand and absorb.
—Fahad Qadir, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
No butter knives struggling to slice through a solid rind or chef’s knives cluttering the spread.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 22 Apr. 2025
Noun
Here, Southern professional organizers speak to nine of these pitfalls and explain what to do instead in order to successfully contain the clutter.
—Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 24 Apr. 2025
Imagine a warehouse bot weaving through clutter, a retail robot answering customer queries, or a humanoid assembling intricate parts.
—Jack Kelly, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clutter
Cite this Entry
“Clutter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clutter. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
clutter
1 of 2 verb
clut·ter
ˈklət-ər 
: to fill or cover with a disorderly scattering of things
clutter up a room
clutter
2 of 2 noun
: a crowded or confused collection
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