Skip to main content
PlainSpell

cleanly

/ˈklɛnli/adjective, adverb

cleanly is spelled C-L-E-A-N-L-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, cleanly means “Being habitually clean, practising good hygiene” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in cleanly?

Letters7: C-L-E-A-N-L-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is cleanly?

Cleanly appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cleanly?

  • /ˈklɛnli/

As an adverb (“In a clean way, neatly”): /ˈkliːnli/.

Cleanly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cleanly2.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cleanly1.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with cleanly?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cleanly from its last stressed vowel (/inli/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of cleanly

  • cleanlier comparative
  • more cleanly comparative
  • cleanliest superlative
  • most cleanly superlative
  • clenly

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cleanly mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.

  2. 2

    obsoleteCleansing; fitted to remove moisture; dirt, etc.

  3. 3

    obsoleteAdroit; dexterous; artful.

adverb

  1. 1

    In a clean way, neatly.

  2. 2

    Not causing a mess or unnecessary damage.

    We agreed to break off our relationship cleanly.

  3. 3

    Innocently; without stain.

  4. 4

    Adroitly; dexterously

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cleanly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpropre sur soi (being habitually clean), proprement (in a clean way)
Germanreinlich (being habitually clean)
Spanishlimpiamente (in a clean way)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cleanly come from?

From Middle English clenly, clenliche, clanly, from Old English clǣnlīċ (“cleanly, pure, excellent”), equivalent to clean + -ly.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cleanly