Neat
WordNet
adjective
(1) Free from clumsiness; precisely or deftly executed
"He landed a clean left on his opponent's cheek"
"A clean throw"
"The neat exactness of the surgeon's knife"
(2) Without water
"Took his whiskey neat"
(3) Free from what is tawdry or unbecoming
"A neat style"
"A neat set of rules"
"She hated to have her neat plans upset"
(4) Very good
"He did a bully job"
"A neat sports car"
"Had a great time at the party"
"You look simply smashing"
(5) Clean or orderly
"Her neat dress"
"A neat room"
(6) Showing care in execution
"Neat homework"
"Neat handwriting"
WiktionaryText
Etymology 1
. Cognate with Dutch , dialectal German , Swiss German , Swedish .
Noun
Etymology 2
From Old (and modern) French net, from Latin nitidus ‘gleaming’, from nitēre ‘to shine’.
Adjective
- Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities.
- Free from contaminants; unadulterated, undiluted.
- I like my whisky neat.
- (Chemistry) Conditions with a liquid reagent or gas performed with no standard solvent or cosolvent
- The Arbuzov reaction is performed by adding the bromide to the phosphite, neat.
- The molecular beam was neat acetylene.
- With all deductions or allowances made; net.
- Having a simple elegance or style; clean, trim, tidy, tasteful.
- The front room was neat and carefully arranged for the guests.
- Well-executed or delivered; clever, skilful, precise.
- Having the two protagonists meet in the last act was a particularly neat touch.
- Good, excellent, desirable.
- Hey, neat convertible, man.
Etymology
From . Cognate with Old Frisian nāt, Old Saxon nōt (Dutch noot), Old High German nōz (dialectal German Nos), Old Norse naut.