สะอาด

Explanation

The central idea of สะอาด is being free from dirt or anything undesirable that should not be there. It follows a noun when modifying it, as in ผ้าสะอาด “a clean cloth” and น้ำสะอาด “clean water.” It can also function directly as a predicate, as in ห้องนี้สะอาด “This room is clean.” A very useful pattern is verb + ให้สะอาด, meaning to do something so that it becomes clean. For example, ล้างให้สะอาด means “wash thoroughly,” and รักษาให้สะอาด means “keep clean.” The word also extends metaphorically to freedom from wrongdoing, as in ประวัติสะอาด “a clean record.” It is neutral and common in both everyday conversation and hygiene-related instructions. Its basic opposite is สกปรก, “dirty” or “unclean.”

Usage

Commonly used when discussing clean rooms and homes, clothing, dishes, hands, and personal hygiene. It also appears in instructions about safe water, food, and sanitary cooking conditions. In conversation and news reports, it can describe a record, money, or heart as untainted by wrongdoing.

Caution

สะอาด means “clean,” not “beautiful.” Use สวย to describe an attractive person, a beautiful view, or something aesthetically pleasing. Also, น้ำสะอาด means clean or uncontaminated water, but it does not necessarily provide a technical guarantee that the water is safe to drink. Use น้ำดื่ม for “drinking water” or น้ำที่ดื่มได้ for “water that is drinkable.”

1 clean synonyms

• บริสุทธิ์

  บริสุทธิ์ emphasizes purity—the absence of impurities—or moral purity. สะอาด is the ordinary word for something clean, especially rooms, clothes, hands, and other everyday things.

• หมดจด

  mòtcòt spotlessly clean

  หมดจด suggests thorough, spotless cleanliness and commonly appears in สะอาดหมดจด. สะอาด is the broader, basic term for being clean.

2 morally clean synonyms

• ไร้มลทิน

  ไร้มลทิน is a more elevated expression meaning completely unblemished or free from disgrace. สะอาด is more neutral and widely used in ordinary speech and news reporting.