Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for unkempt. Search instead for unkemptly.
Synonyms

unkempt

American  
[uhn-kempt] / ʌnˈkɛmpt /

adjective

  1. not combed.

    unkempt hair.

  2. uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy.

    unkempt clothes; an unkempt lawn.

  3. unpolished; rough; crude.

unkempt British  
/ ʌnˈkɛmpt /

adjective

  1. (of the hair) uncombed; dishevelled

  2. ungroomed; slovenly

    unkempt appearance

  3. archaic crude or coarse

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • unkemptly adverb
  • unkemptness noun

Etymology

Origin of unkempt

1590–1600; variant of unkembed; un- 1, kempt

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

“One cannot just rush from one’s home looking shabby, rumpled, and unkempt,” Handsome would likely say to Duane.

From Literature

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

In it, he played a nerdy, unkempt co-founder who gets left behind when the business takes off.

From The Wall Street Journal

His bright orange beard is unkempt and hangs halfway down his chest.

From Literature

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.