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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

tidy.

Arranged neatly and in order.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈtaɪ.di/
  1. Arranged neatly and in order.

    She always kept her desk immaculately tidy; nothing was ever out of place.
  2. Not messy; neat and controlled.

    Keep Britain tidy by picking up litter.
  3. Satisfactory; comfortable.

    colloquial
  4. Generous, considerable.

    colloquial
    The scheme made a tidy profit.
  5. In good time; at the right time; timely; seasonable; opportune; favourable; fit; suitable.

    obsolete
  6. Brave; smart; skillful; fine; good.

    obsolete
  7. Appropriate or suitable as regards occasion, circumstances, arrangement, or order.

  8. Normalized in a certain way that optimizes for data analysis.

Where this word comes from

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

verb/ˈtaɪ.di/
  1. To make tidy; to neaten.

Where this word comes from

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

noun/ˈtaɪ.di/
  1. A container or other device for storing or organizing loose items in a tidy fashion.

    in-compounds
    desk tidy; sink tidy; cable 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. A child's pinafore.

    dated
  4. The wren.

Where this word comes from

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

intj/ˈtaɪ.di/
  1. Expression of agreement or positive acknowledgement, usually in reply to a question; great, fine.

    Wales
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.