unkempt
Americanadjective
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not combed.
unkempt hair.
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uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy.
unkempt clothes; an unkempt lawn.
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unpolished; rough; crude.
adjective
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(of the hair) uncombed; dishevelled
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ungroomed; slovenly
unkempt appearance
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archaic crude or coarse
Other Word Forms
- unkemptly adverb
- unkemptness noun
Etymology
Origin of unkempt
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We checked into our hotel during the wee hours of the morning, all of us tired, slightly unkempt and desperately in need of a warm shower.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
The poet appealed to Hallam’s imaginative depths, and Hallam brought the unkempt and solitary Tennyson into the world of the elite and affluent.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
On an unkempt lawn, red lanterns sway above a modest Chinese New Year celebration - a small but telling detail in a country where Beijing and Delhi are both vying hard for influence.
From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026
It’s not that the right of way under the power lines now is unkempt.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2025
I walked over to the loudest keeplock, P-49, a somewhat scary-looking guy with unkempt dreadlocks, dirty clothes, and one gray and clouded eye.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
