crystal clear
43
2.5
- adjective
- /ˈkrɪstl klɪr/
- Informal
:
claro
- The instructions for the project were crystal clear, leaving no room for misunderstandings.
- make it crystal clear
- crystal clear evidence
OK, to keep things totally rock solid crystal clear, make a list.
- OK, to keep things totally rock solid crystal clear, make a list.
- This time I'm crystal clear in what I want to do.
- They have been very crystal clear about the way they want to do this.
- It was crystal clear in detail.
- You got to get crystal clear on what it is that you want.
- It sounds absolutely crystal clear because it's right here by my ears.
- You know, when a judge writes in all caps that it's crystal clear, that's a bad sign.
- OK, first I want to be crystal clear.
- OK, listen, I'm just going to be crystal clear here.
- On the other hand, this makes it crystal clear.
- Finally, I can see it crystal clear.
Examples
-
Your mission needs to be crystal clear to you and everyone around you.
-
Let me make that crystal clear.
-
OK, to keep things totally rock solid crystal clear, make a list.
-
We want to make things crystal clear for them now, right now.
-
You got to get crystal clear on what it is that you want.
-
In fact, it's crystal clear that she needs a change, that it's time to leave L.A.
Fiction book (2002) -
And finally, what friends had been trying to tell me for almost a year became crystal clear.
Academic text (1996) -
The committee was crystal clear about their plans for Poland.
-
This time I'm crystal clear in what I want to do.
-
They have been very crystal clear about the way they want to do this.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Easy to see or understand
317
2.8
Easy to see or understand
264
1.0
Easy to see or understand
203
2.1
Easy to see or understand
99
3.7
Something that is easy to understand and clear
43
3.5
Very obvious and easy to see or understand
43
3.9
Very clear and easy to recognize
27
4.2
Easy to see and understand
27
1.0
Simple and clear so most people can know what it means quickly
24
6.7
Completely clear and leaving no doubt
18
3.8
Very clear and easy to decide or solve
15
5.9
Clear and having only one meaning
9
4.5
Clear and easy to understand language
8
4.4
Easy to hear and understand
8
1.0
In a way that is easy to hear or understand
5
6.3
Very clear and see-through so you can see fine details
3
4.2
Very clear and exact so you can see every small detail
1
4.0
With sharp edges and clear lines
1
3.5
Very clear and hard to miss
1
6.4
Clear and easy to understand, especially in writing or speech
1
7.9
Clear and easy to understand
Clear and easy to understand speech or writing
Clear and easy to understand language that leaves little room for confusion
Antonyms
How Clear
Surface Forms
Morphology
crystal + clear
The meaning 'extremely obvious or perfectly clear' is directly derived from combining 'crystal' (a highly transparent substance) with 'clear' (visible/unobstructed or understandable), so the phrase's image straightforwardly intensifies clarity. This compositional adjectival intensification is cross-linguistically common, making it predictable for a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Crystal clear uses the same image of a clear crystal that shows everything without doubt, so people began using it for speech and writing. That's why it means 'very easy to understand' or 'obvious'.