unclean

American  

[uhn-kleen] / ʌnˈklin /

adjective

uncleaner, uncleanest

1. not clean; dirty.

   Synonyms:

   filthy

2. morally impure; evil; vile.

   unclean thoughts.

   Synonyms:

   polluted, corrupt, sinful, unchaste, base

3. Chiefly Biblical. having a physical or moral blemish so as to make impure according to the laws, especially the dietary or ceremonial laws.

   an unclean animal; unclean persons.

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unclean British  

/ ʌnˈkliːn /

adjective

1. lacking moral, spiritual, ritual, or physical cleanliness

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Other Word Forms

• uncleanness
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of unclean

before 900; Middle English unclene, Old English unclǣne. See un- ¹, clean

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unclean uncleanest

Fragrance and stench became shorthand for clean and unclean, respectable and disreputable, “us” and “them.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

A longstanding taboo in Chinese culture against used goods, seen as unclean or a shameful sign of poverty, is lifting rapidly.

From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026

Sick dogs can easily be reinfected by grooming themselves and living in an unclean environment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

If that makes you a little sick, if the whole thing feels a little unclean, that’s only because the internet has become a nauseous, infested place.

From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2025

Crazy for standing on her principles: no buying on credit, no giving up her children, no eating of unclean meat.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz

Be not the emptiest meetest to receive gifts, and the uncleanest they that have most need of washing?”

From The White Rose of Langley A Story of the Olden Time by Emily Sarah Holt

Of all the unclean ones, Hamlet was the uncleanest.

From Twilight in Italy by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

In that short space of time he discovered that the galley was the dirtiest hole under the sun and the cook the uncleanest person that ever handled food.

From The Skipper's Wooing, and The Brown Man's Servant by W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs

He was a guileless and indeed a holy man; and it's always the guileless and the holy people who raise the uncleanest scandals.

From The Belfry by May Sinclair

There is little doubt but that milk is one of the uncleanest and impurest of all foods.

From No Animal Food and Nutrition and Diet with Vegetable Recipes by Rupert H. Wheldon

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