orderly

/ˈɔrdərli/

/ˈɔdəli/

Other forms: orderlies

Orderly means neat, tidy, and well-organized. An orderly library makes it easy to find the books you want.

A thing or place can be orderly, like a desk, refrigerator, or a hospital, and so can a person, particularly if they are very calm and well-behaved. And when it's a noun, orderly means a hospital worker who does many non-medical jobs and generally keeps things neat and tidy — orderly, in other words. The Latin root is ordinem, "arrangement or row," which originally meant "a row of threads in a loom."

Definitions of orderly

1. adjective

   clean or organized
   synonyms: neat

   tidy

   marked by order and cleanliness in appearance or habits
2. adjective

   devoid of violence or disruption
   “an orderly crowd confronted the president”

   antonyms:

   disorderly

   undisciplined and unruly

   boisterous, rambunctious, robustious, rumbustious, unruly

   noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline

   mobbish, moblike

   characteristic of a mob; disorderly or lawless

   raucous, rowdy

   disturbing the public peace; loud and rough

   bare-knuckle, bare-knuckled, rough-and-tumble

   characterized by disorderly action and disregard for rules
3. noun

   a hospital attendant who has general duties that do not involve the medical treatment of patients
   synonyms: hospital attendant

   type of:

   attendant, attender, tender

   someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another
4. noun

   a soldier who serves as an attendant to a superior officer
   “the orderly laid out the general's uniform”

   type of:

   attendant, attender, tender

   someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another

   soldier

   an enlisted man or woman who serves in an army