How to Use tidy in a Sentence

tidy

1 of 3 adjective
  • They paid a tidy sum for the house.
  • She earns a tidy salary.
  • He has always been a tidy person.
  • While their homes were tidy, they were lived in.
    Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 1 May 2026
  • This keeps the fabric neat and tidy.
    Shagun Khare, Martha Stewart, 25 Apr. 2026
  • And nothing about it felt tidy.
    Dr. Joseph D'orazio, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Keep areas around the house tidy.
    Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Each evening to keep the pile-up at bay, tidy and clean the kitchen.
    Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 30 May 2026
  • Buying a new one can set you back a tidy sum.
    Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Is your child expected to have a tidy room?
    Margery D. Rosen, Parents, 5 Mar. 2026
  • No easy fixes and no tidy endings here.
    The Know, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Try to keep your sink garbage disposal tidy.
    Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Luggage strap used to keep things tidy or as a car seatbelt.
    Sarah Moore, Freep.com, 21 Dec. 2025
  • Luggage strap used to keep things tidy or as a car seatbelt.
    Sarah Moore, Freep.com, 24 Mar. 2026
  • Cleaning your oven isn’t just about your home looking tidy.
    Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 6 May 2026
  • One tool that can help me keep a tidy home is this eight-pack of clear storage bins.
    Clara McMahon, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025
  • The new apartment was small, tidy, and simple.
    Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Clearing away such items can make a kitchen feel more spacious and tidy.
    Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Jan. 2026
  • Sue’s normally tidy home was in chaos.
    Dateline Nbc, NBC news, 11 Mar. 2026
  • The venue change made for a tidy metaphor, but this was a shift in gravity.
    Dana Harris-Bridson, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026
  • This way, the bedroom can be tidy at the end of the day and ready to go for the next one.
    Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 5 Oct. 2025
  • This way, the bedroom can be tidy at the end of the day and ready to go for the next one.
    Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 27 May 2026
  • Deadhead hydrangeas when blooms fade or petals curl to keep the plant tidy and healthy.
    Melissa Epifano, The Spruce, 27 June 2026
  • The result is a tidy symmetry that ought to make savers look twice.
    Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
  • The second mow gives the lawn a clean and tidy appearance.
    Samantha Johnson, Martha Stewart, 11 Mar. 2026
  • That divide may look tidy on paper, but real life is messier.
    Miami Herald, 28 Apr. 2026
  • Harris doesn’t end her memoir with a tidy message of hope.
    Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Store trash bins out of sight if possible and keep walkways clear and tidy.
    Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Keep your ferns tidy by cutting back old, decaying growth.
    Sj McShane, Martha Stewart, 22 June 2026
  • Collect shells in a second bowl to appear tidy.
    Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2025

tidy

2 of 3 verb
  • I tidied the house before they arrived.
  • The floor of the tomb had been swept and tidied.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
  • The work isn’t tidying them up for the record.
    Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Once your task is complete, tidy up your workspace.
    Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 6 Dec. 2025
  • Be sure to grab this leaf blower to tidy up your yard, too.
    Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 28 Nov. 2025
  • So tidy your desk, turn on some good lights and maybe move locations.
    Expert Panel, Forbes, 22 June 2021
  • Do your best to get some tidying up done — your future self will thank you.
    Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Spring will soon spring, so perhaps this is a good time to tidy up around the castle.
    Ed Silverman, STAT, 5 Mar. 2022
  • Run the mower over it on its highest setting and tidy the bed up.
    Neil Sperry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Feb. 2024
  • If your goal is to tidy up smaller areas, weight is less of a factor.
    Rebecca Norris, Peoplemag, 10 Feb. 2023
  • Keep these expert tips in mind when tidying your lawn and garden.
    Alexandra Kelly, Martha Stewart, 22 Feb. 2026
  • If all else fails, binge more episodes of her show—or perhaps even get to tidying up on your own?
    Maddie Hiatt, House Beautiful, 30 Jan. 2019
  • The checkers and vets had the checkpoint all tidied up but now (the) crew is back.
    Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Mar. 2020
  • Keep scrolling for Arkin’s top tips for tidying tough-to-clean kitchen areas.
    Stephanie Osmanski, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Deliver the grass, cut the grass, paint the lines, tidy it up after each game.
    Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 5 June 2026
  • Her goal was to tidy up her landings and gain more consistency on vault and floor.
    Rachel Blount, Star Tribune, 25 June 2021
  • Clearing out the cache on your mobile browser is a great way to tidy your system up.
    Yoni Heisler, BGR, 15 July 2022
  • One tidied the lawn while another sat on the porch, waiting for news to come.
    Rachel Swan, SFChronicle.com, 29 July 2019
  • Keeping on top of that is like constantly nagging your kids at home to tidy their room.
    Laurie Whitwell, New York Times, 13 May 2026
  • Next, split the pony in two, rope braid the hair, tidy around base, and secure with strong pins or a hair elastic.
    Georgia Murray, refinery29.com, 24 June 2022
  • Always the boys looked on display, things people had tidied and set up.
    Jeff Spry, Space.com, 18 May 2026
  • To do this, tidy up your nails then apply a layer of ultra-bright clear polish.
    Veronica Cristino, Vogue, 4 Sep. 2023
  • Fatema was still tidying up in the kitchen when her house begun collapsing around her.
    Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Jess is not there to be saved, punished, tidied up or understood in one easy way.
    Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 22 June 2026
  • A couple girls paused in front of a mirror, blotted their faces and tidied their hair.
    Maggie Prosser, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • And then in the afternoon, Janet Yellen would come in and tidy it all up.
    Fortune Editors, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2023
  • But each has some unfinished business to tidy up first, which is the focus of most of the movie.
    BostonGlobe.com, 20 May 2022
  • At first, the machine’s goal will align with the very human goal of tidying up loose papers.
    Paul Bloom, The New Yorker, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The first key for the Empire on Sunday is to tidy up their breakoffs in respawn modes.
    Sean Collins, Dallas News, 23 July 2021
  • Freddie yelled over to Dean Dise, who was tidying up his own boat in the next slip.
    Earl Swift, Outside Online, 20 June 2018

tidy

3 of 3 noun
  • Set aside 10 to 15 minutes each day to do a quick tidy-up.
    Wendy Rose Gould, Martha Stewart, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Above zero would be better, and that’s slightly-below tidy for a veteran who usually plays while many of his best teammates rest.
    Tony East, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The area between the Earth and the Moon, and especially in low-Earth orbit, could do with a serious tidy up.
    David Szondy august 26, New Atlas, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Leave Time for Cleanup Decluttering may just seem like a game of putting things in place, but there’s bound to be certain tasks needed for a final tidy.
    Shagun Khare, The Spruce, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Either way, mopping with a disinfecting solution is what separates a surface-level tidy from a genuine deep clean.
    Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Charlotte Observer, 21 Apr. 2026
  • And when your pantry is perfected, move right on to fridge organization, shoe storage, or any other area of your space that could use a tidy after the chaos of the holiday season.
    Jordan Goldberg, Architectural Digest, 22 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tidy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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