unclean
Americanadjective
-
not clean; dirty.
- Synonyms:
- filthy
-
morally impure; evil; vile.
unclean thoughts.
-
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.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unclean
before 900; Middle English unclene, Old English unclǣne. See un- 1, clean
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.
See Examples For:
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
The two bacteria are spread through contact with contaminated faeces, either directly through person-to-person transmission or indirectly from unclean food, water or surfaces.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
The left hand, considered unclean, is reserved for personal hygiene.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2025
John and Lou had picked up some kind of virulent intestinal ailment from the unclean surroundings.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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 Holt, Emily Sarah
Of all the unclean ones, Hamlet was the uncleanest.
From Twilight in Italy by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
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 Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark)
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 Wheldon, Rupert H.
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 Sinclair, May
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.
