unkempt
Americanadjective
-
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
Etymology
Origin of unkempt
Explanation
Unkempt literally means "not combed," but use it to describe anything with a sloppy appearance. Your hair probably looks unkempt when you roll out of bed in the morning. Keep it that way if you're going for the rock star look. From the fusing of un-, "not" with kempt, "neat," comes the adjective unkempt. Kempt has fallen out of use, but unkempt persists as a popular word to describe anything unpolished, rough, or disorderly. Pig sties, the corrals where pigs live, are usually quite unkempt. That's why your mom keeps calling your messy, unkempt train wreck of a room a pig sty.
Vocabulary lists containing unkempt
The Call of the Wild
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The One and Only Ivan
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Uglies
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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.
Unkempt beards call for unkempt hair to match.
From Slate • Jan. 31, 2024
Unkempt in pajamas—he has stumbled into the studio after walking all night in the rain—he gets down on his knees and holds his trembling hands to the sky.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 10, 2018
Unkempt hair, dressing gown and slippers, living alone, rarely leaving the house?
From The Guardian • Apr. 16, 2018
Unkempt, unloved and unknown, he was on his way to a Phi Beta Kappa key, perhaps to a life of scholarship.
From Time Magazine Archive
He said, “I’m busy greeting my friends,” and he nodded to Discourtesy and Ugliness and Unfilial Conduct and Unkempt Fingernails.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
