neat
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neat¹
- /ˈniːt/
- [ˈnɪi̯t]
Sounds like NEET · Rhymes with -iːt
Where it comes from
From Middle English nete, net, nette, from Anglo-Norman neit (“good, desirable, clean”), a variant of Old French net, nette (“clean, clear, pure”), from Latin nitidus (“gleaming”), derived from nitēre (“to shine”). Doublet of net and nitid. Cognate with German nett (“nice, kind”). Compare also nait.
adjective neater · neatest
- Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities. My room is neat because I tidied it this morning. She has very neat hair.
- Free from contaminants or impurities, unadulterated. 1932, Winston Churchill, Painting as a Pastime, New York: Cornerstone Library, 1965, At one side of the palette there is white, at the other black; and neither is ever used ‘neat.’
- At full strength, free from dilution (usually with water), undiluted 1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 464-465, A cup of neate wine of Orleance, That never came neer the brewers of England.
- Neither straight up nor on the rocks I like my whisky neat, so you have no need for ice at all.
- 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. Why without telling the least title of Falshood, within the space of the last Week’s Play, the Gains of Count Cog, really amounted to no less than Twenty Thousand Pounds Sterling neat Money.
- 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, skillful, precise. Having the two protagonists meet in the last act was a particularly neat touch.
- Facile; missing complexity or details in the favor of convenience or simplicity. Courts should not reduce this case to a neat set of legal rules.
- Good, excellent, desirable; interesting; cool. Hey, neat convertible, man.
- Obsolete form of net (“remaining after expenses or deductions”). What is the neat weight of 4 hogsheads of tobacco, each weighing 10cwt. 3qrs. 10lb. gross; — tare 100lb. per hdd.?
Opposite: on the rocks
interjection
- Used to signify a job well done.
- Used to signify approval.
noun neats
- An artificial intelligence researcher who believes that solutions should be elegant, clear and provably correct. Compare scruffy.
neat²
- /ˈniːt/
- [ˈnɪi̯t]
Sounds like NEET · Rhymes with -iːt
Where it comes from
From Middle English net, neet, from Old English nēat (“animal, beast, ox, cow, cattle”), from Proto-West Germanic *naut, from Proto-Germanic *nautą (“foredeal, profit, property, livestock”), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of”). Cognate with Dutch noot (“cow, cattle”, in compounds), dialectal German Noß (“livestock”), Alemannic German Nooss (“young sheep or goat”), Swedish nöt (“cattle”), Icelandic naut (“cattle, bull”) and Faroese neyt (“cattle”). More at note.
noun neats · neat
- A bull or cow. Who both by his calfe, & his lambe wil be known, / may well kill a neate and a shepe of his owne. / And he that wil reare up a pyg in his house, / hath cheaper his bacon, and sweter his souse.
noun
-
Cattle collectively.
From thence into the open fields he fled, / Whereas the Heardes were keeping of their neat / And shepheards singing to their flockes, that fed,
Similar: nolt
NEAT³
- /niːt/
Rhymes with -iːt
noun
- Acronym of neuroevolution of augmenting topologies, a genetic algorithm for the generation of evolving artificial neural networks.
noun
- Acronym of non-exercise activity thermogenesis
Neat⁴
Where it comes from
English metonymic occupational surname for a herdsman or a nickname for someone thought to resemble an ox or a cow, from Middle English neat (“ox, cow”), from Old English neat.
proper noun Neats
- A surname from Middle English.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: tidy, nifty, elegant, tasteful, slap-up, adroit, bang-up, corking, not bad, great, refined, dandy, keen, good, straight, bully
adjective
Opposite: on the rocks
Translations
Every language
adj undiluted, particularly of alcoholic drinks
| Español | derecho |
|---|---|
| Português | cowboy, caubói |
| Deutsch | pur, unverdünnt, unvermischt |
| Italiano | liscio |
| Ελληνικά | σκέτος skétos |
adj chemistry: with no solvent or cosolvent
| Français | pur, pure |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | rein, lösungsmittelfrei |
| Italiano | puro |
adj having a simple elegance or style; clean, trim, tidy, tasteful
| Português | leve |
|---|---|
| Français | élégant |
| Deutsch | nett, gepflegt, geschmackvoll |
| Italiano | ordinato |
adj well-executed or delivered; clever, skilful, precise
| Deutsch | geschickt, ordentlich, genau, akkurat |
|---|
Talk about this word "neat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/neat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. neat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/neat "neat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/neat.Cite this
@misc{neat_2026,
title = {neat},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/neat},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
