tidy

See also: Tidy

English

Etymology

From Middle English tidy, tydy, tidi (“timely, seasonal, opportune”), from tide (“time”) +‎ -y. Cognate with Dutch tijdig (“timely”), Middle Low German tīdich (“timely”), German zeitig (“seasonal, timely”), Danish tidig (“timely”), Swedish tidig (“timely”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaɪdi/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪdi

Adjective

tidy (comparative tidier, superlative tidiest)

1. Arranged neatly and in order.

   Keep Britain tidy by picking up litter.

2. Not messy; neat and controlled.
3. (colloquial) Satisfactory; comfortable.
4. (colloquial) Generous, considerable.

   The scheme made a tidy profit.

   • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act 1:

     Two hundred thousand people! Miss Glory, that's a tidy lot. Not bad.

5. (obsolete) In good time; at the right time; timely; seasonable; opportune; favourable; fit; suitable.
   • 1573, Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry:

     if weather be fair and tidy

6. (obsolete) Brave; smart; skillful; fine; good.
7. Appropriate or suitable as regards occasion, circumstances, arrangement, or order.

Synonyms

• (arranged neatly): neat, orderly, presentable, spick and span; see also Thesaurus:orderly or Thesaurus:clean
• (at the right time): opportune, seasonable; see also Thesaurus:timely
• (appropriate or suitable): apt, fit; see also Thesaurus:suitable

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “not messy”): messy, untidy

Derived terms

• neat and tidy

 

Related terms

• tidily
• tidiness

Translations

arranged neatly

• Afrikaans: netjies (af)
• Armenian: կոկիկ (hy) (kokik)
• Bulgarian: спретнат (bg) (spretnat), подреден (bg) (podreden)
• Catalan: endreçat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 整齊／整齐 (zh) (zhěngqí)

• Czech: uklizený
• Danish: ordentlig (da), opryddet
• Dutch: net (nl), proper (nl), rein (nl)
• Finnish: siisti (fi)
• French: ordonné (fr)
• German: sauber (de), ordentlich (de)
• Greek: τακτοποιημένος (el) (taktopoiiménos), νοικοκυρεμένος (el) (noikokyreménos), περιποιημένος (el) (peripoiiménos), φροντισμένος (el) (frontisménos)

  Ancient: κόσμιος (kósmios)

• Irish: cúirialta
• Italian: ordinato (it) m
• Japanese: きちんとした (kichinto shita), こざっぱりした (kozappari shita)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پاک و تەمیز (pak û temîz)

• Latin: mundus
• Malagasy: milamina (mg)
• Maori: nahanaha, pūhangaiti
• Marathi: नेटके n (neṭke), नेटका m (neṭkā), नेटकी f (neṭkī)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: эмх цэгцтэй (emx cegctej)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ryddig (no)

  Nynorsk: ryddig

• Persian: پاکیزه (fa) (pâkize)
• Plautdietsch: krakjt
• Polish: schludny (pl) m
• Portuguese: limpo (pt), ordenado (pt), arrumado (pt)
• Russian: аккура́тный (ru) (akkurátnyj), опря́тный (ru) (oprjátnyj), чи́стый (ru) (čístyj)
• Scots: dink
• Scottish Gaelic: cunbhalach
• Slovak: úhľadný, usporiadaný, upravený
• Spanish: ordenado (es), pulcro (es), prolijo (es)
• Thai: เรียบร้อย (th) (rîiap-rɔ́ɔi)
• Welsh: taclus (cy)
• Yiddish: זויבער (zoyber), ציכטיק (tsikhtik)

generous, considerable

• Bulgarian: значителен (bg) (značitelen)
• Catalan: considerable (ca), bo (ca)
• German: ordentlich (de)

Verb

tidy (third-person singular simple present tidies, present participle tidying, simple past and past participle tidied)

1. To make tidy; to neaten.

Derived terms

• tidy up

 

Translations

to make tidy

• Afrikaans: opruim
• Bulgarian: подреждам (bg) (podreždam), разтребвам (bg) (raztrebvam)
• Catalan: endreçar (ca), ordenar (ca), netejar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 整理 (zh) (zhěnglǐ), 收拾 (zh) (shōushi)

• Dutch: opruimen (nl), schoonmaken (nl)
• Finnish: siistiä (fi)
• Galician: limpar (gl), ordenar (gl)
• German: aufräumen (de), säubern (de), ordnen (de)
• Hungarian: takarít (hu)
• Japanese: 片付ける (ja) (かたづける, katazukeru)
• Kazakh: реттеу (retteu)
• Malagasy: mandamina (mg)
• Maori: rau(w)iri (of a garden with weeds), whakapaipai, whakaraupapa (systematise), tātai
• Marathi: आवरणे (mr) (āvarṇe)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: цэгцлэх (mn) (cegclex)

• Persian: مرتب کردن (fa)
• Polish: sprzątać (pl) impf
• Russian: убира́ть (ru) (ubirátʹ), приводи́ть в поря́док (privodítʹ v porjádok), (informal) наводи́ть чистоту (navodítʹ čistotu)
• Slovak: upraviť
• Spanish: ordenar (es)
• Welsh: tacluso (cy)

Noun

tidy (plural tidies)

1. A tabletop container for pens and stationery.

   a desk tidy

2. A cover, often of tatting, drawn work, or other ornamental work, for the back of a chair, the arms of a sofa, etc.
3. (dated) A child's pinafore.
   • 1846, Miss Lambert, The Handbook of Needlework:

     A much coarser cotton , according to the fancy of the worker , may be used for the trimmings of night dresses , petticoats , D'Oyleys , tidies, etc.

4. The wren.
   • 1612, Michael Drayton, chapter 13, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes; I. Browne; I. Helme; I. Busbie, published 1613, →OCLC:

     The Tydie for her notes as delicate as they

Derived terms

• desk tidy
• hair-tidy
• sink tidy
• tidy-up

 

Translations

tabletop container for pens and stationery

• Irish: coimeádán m, gabhdán m

Interjection

tidy

1. (Wales) Expression of agreement or positive acknowledgement, usually in reply to a question; great, fine.