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
His appearance is changing too, an unkempt beard and dirty clothes a far cry from his polished morning TV look.
From BBC • Sep. 28, 2024
That same call may be shaping the resurgence of beards in the United States after a long phase in which they were seen as unkempt and unprofessional.
From Salon • Sep. 3, 2024
Her bun was a mass of wild curls, but not in the unkempt way she usually saw it in the mirror.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
