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^[1], →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^[2]:

     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

having a neat, smart appearance

• Bulgarian: ясен (bg) (jasen), определен (bg) (opredelen)
• Finnish: siisti (fi), siistinnäköinen
• German: adrett (de)
• Irish: slachtmhar, dea-chóirithe, pointeáilte
• Spanish: nítido (es)