clean-cut

English

Etymology

Apparently from the idea of being smoothly shaped and thus the opposite of “rough” or “coarse”.

Adjective

clean-cut (comparative more clean-cut, superlative most clean-cut)

  1. Having a neat, smart appearance
    • 1964, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Motorpsycho Nitemare”, in Another Side of Bob Dylan:
      I fell down / To my bended knees, / Saying, "I dig farmers, / Don't shoot me, please!" / He cocked his rifle / And began to shout, / "You're that travelin' salesman / That I have heard about." / I said, "No! No! No! / I'm a doctor and it's true, / I'm a clean-cut kid / And I been to college, too."
    • 2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN:
      Of the fifty or so people present, most were clean-cut men in their twenties or thirties. Dalio sat down near the front of the room.
    • 2021 September 16, A. A. Dowd, “Dan Stevens as a dashing robot lover? That computes”, in AV Club:
      here’s something a little too perfect about Dan Stevens. Even when he’s not literally playing a Disney prince, he looks like one: poised, chiseled, giving off a clean-cut aura no matter his state of grooming.

Translations

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