Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“I don’t think I’d be happy if I only played clean-cut characters. I can’t paint a pretty picture all the time.”
-Actor Nicolas Cage on the roles he likes to play in movies. (bered.com)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
wholesome; well-dressed, clean and professional-looking
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
What do a suicidal alcoholic, a drug-addicted police officer, and an illegal weapons dealer have in common?
They’re all characters that Nicolas Cage has played in movies. And none of them can be called clean-cut.
If someone is clean-cut, they’re neat and tidy in appearance. Usually, describing someone as clean-cut also implies that they’re wholesome and normal. There’s nothing dark or weird or crazy about them. So you can see why, for an actor, it wouldn’t be very interesting to only play clean-cut characters.
Clean-cut is an adjective that’s most often used to describe people. However, you can also sometimes use clean-cut to describe things like music, movies, or TV shows. A clean-cut movie is a wholesome movie with no sex, violence, or bad language. It’s the kind of movie that’s safe for kids to watch, but might be a little boring for adults.
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“He used to dress like a hippie but now he’s totally clean-cut. “
“The Beach Boys’ music is considered clean-cut, even though many of the lyrics are quite dark.”
“My mom wants me to date someone clean-cut, but I only like bad boys.”