These words refer to good grooming or to systematic arrangements. Orderly is the most general and least formal of these words. In terms of something well-cared for, it refers more to places or things than to personal appearance: an orderly array of law books; an orderly studio. The word suggests a considerable mass of details that without deliberate efforts at arrangement can easily become disarrayed. Clarity may be the motivating factor behind such an effort: an orderly presentation of the points to be discussed. But the word can indicate superficial rather than meaningful arrangement: an orderly but not very searching mind. Tidy need not imply the arrangement of as many details as orderly but it does suggest greater adherence to the arrangement chosen even to the point of possible severity or rigidity: a pleasant, orderly playroom where the boys were busy building a model aircraft; a room so tidy that it seemed doubtful that anyone actually lived in it. Sometimes, the word can suggest a happy, feminine touch, but it can sometimes point to primness instead: a tidy bedroom with pink curtains and a simple dressing table; a school teacher who kept scolding her children about keeping their desks tidy .

Neat applies much like tidy , but without the latter’s possibly unfavourable implications. Unlike the previous pair, neat applies as well to personal appearance as to places and things. In any case it suggests careful, uncluttered arrangements or simple, fastidious good grooming: a neat kitchen; wearing a neat , newly pressed skirt; He was always neat in everything he did. But neat , like the preceding words, need not imply cleanliness, as can be seen from the common phrase, neat and clean. Something may be carefully arranged and yet not clean, although the two very often go hand in hand: The room was as neat as she had left it, although dust had settled over everything, a room that had been left neat and sparkling by our maid. Trim contrasts with orderly by emphasizing a sparseness rather than a quantity of detail; it also points to simplicity, compactness and precision: the trim , well-tailored lines of her suit; the man’s trim haircut; a row of trim holiday cottages. In reference to physique, the word suggests a healthy, appealing slimness: the girl’s trim figure; the swimmer’s trim body.

Natty applies mainly to personal appearance, particularly to clothing, and may be more relevant to men than to women. It is often used humorously to indicate something extremely stylish, even something over-elegant: a dinner suit with natty silk lapel; the teddy boy’s natty Edwardian clothes.