spic-and-span

Questions about spic-and-span

What does spic-and-span mean?

spic-and-span means "conspicuously new". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in spic-and-span?

spic-and-span has 3 syllables: spi-c-and--span. The stress falls on "spi".

What is another word for spic-and-span?

Close synonyms include brand-new, bran-new, spick-and-span, immaculate, speckless. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is spic-and-span a common word?

spic-and-span is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.