untidy
Americanadjective
-
not tidy or neat; slovenly; disordered.
an untidy room; an untidy person.
-
not well-organized or carried out.
an untidy plan.
verb (used with object)
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of untidy
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at un- 1, tidy
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:
Happy Birthday to the glorious, untidy, steadfast, magnificent experiment that is the United States.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
In the living room, a pilot rearranges an untidy study desk.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
"It's going to look a bit untidy on the way through," she said in early November.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
In a cagey encounter, players appeared fatigued with both teams untidy in possession and lacking quality in the final third.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2025
Though not untidy, exactly, it verged on being so.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Aunt Marge loved criticizing him, so the untidier he looked, the happier she would be.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
Riddle’s reply came quickly, his writing becoming untidier, as though he was hurrying to tell all he knew.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
Polly looked untidier than ever; she wore a slatternly wrapper, and her hair was thrust unbrushed into its net.
From Australia Felix by Richardson, Henry Handel
Char saw Mrs. Potter, untidier than ever, handing steaming cups across her buffet with incredible rapidity.
From The War-Workers by Delafield, E.M.
The handwriting suddenly grew untidier than ever; two great blots defaced the paper; the style became feebly hysterical.
From Poor Miss Finch by Collins, Wilkie
He was the untidiest person in the world.
From The Guardian ● May 29, 2013
Laval devotes much time to his toilet, but he is one of the untidiest political figures on earth.
From Time Magazine Archive
No light was in the room, but the gas-lamp of the yard shed flickering and uncertain gleams through the window into the barest and untidiest of chambers.
From Left to Ourselves or, John Headley's Promise. by Shaw, Catharine
He walked into the dispensary, and laughed at the bottles, telling her it was the untidiest dispensary in London, and he was quite sure all her prescriptions included an appalling supply of microbes.
From Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing by Page, Gertrude
Her room was the untidiest that Nellie had ever seen, and the tea a picnic.
From The Card, a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns by Bennett, Arnold
Never mind all the stuff she has persuaded the untidied masses to extract from their overstuffed homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2019
And at night the intrepid traveler is not surprised to return and find the room still unmade, the bureau still undusted and the damp towel still on the untidied washstand.
From Time Magazine Archive
O my chamber's untidied, unmade my bed Though the day has begun to wear!
From Wessex Poems and Other Verses by Hardy, Thomas
The remains of a fire untidied the grate; the flimsiest curtains were hung before the windows.
From Sparrows: the story of an unprotected girl by Newte, Horace W. C. (Horace Wykeham Can)
The one thing I never could stand is a great lout of a man smoking all over my house and going to sleep in his chair after dinner, and untidying everything.
From Getting Married by Shaw, Bernard
He hoped that her hands were not untidying him beyond quick repair: he very much disliked having his hair ruffled.
From Burning Sands by Weigal, Arthur
You can't tidy anything without untidying yourself; just look at my trousers.
From Manalive by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)
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.
