Entry · catalog no. 1105
clean
/ /kliːn/ /KLEEN
adjective · Nationwide · 1900s
✓ Verified
1.
Sharply dressed; looking crisp and well put-together. Said of a person whose outfit is on point.
“He stepped out clean — creases sharp, shoes untouched.”
Origin & Attribution
Long-standing African American vernacular for being well-dressed, running from jazz-era style talk (alongside "sharp," "fly," and "fresh") into hip-hop. Documented in slang references including Green's Dictionary of Slang, which glosses it as dressed in the height of fashion and perfectly groomed.
mid-1900s
Jazz-era style vocabulary
1980s–90s
Carried through hip-hop
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Nationwide · 1900s
Spoken by
Black speakers, nationally
$CLEANThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady86 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
55/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1940
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
+ Cite a sourceGreen's Dictionary of Slang, "clean" (dressed in the height of fashion) — reference · 2010s
submitted
See also