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:
He came to the U.S. in 1993 as a graduate student and developed a keen appreciation for the American system’s ability to steer away from radicalism and remain in the untidy middle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Yet their pictures take us to places we wouldn’t encounter otherwise and remind us that in addition to being strange, life is frequently untidy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
In the living room, a pilot rearranges an untidy study desk.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
The assessments from his former masters at Lancaster Road Junior School and Euston Road Senior School in Morecambe included criticism of the late entertainer's attendance and "poor and untidy written work".
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2024
It said, in a very untidy scrawl: Harry borrowed Ron’s quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" 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
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
The room had not much in it, or it would have been untidier; it looked neglected and gloomy, and some dirty plates, suggestive of long-past dinners, were piled on the table.
From The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth
The handwriting suddenly grew untidier than ever; two great blots defaced the paper; the style became feebly hysterical.
From Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins
Polly looked untidier than ever; she wore a slatternly wrapper, and her hair was thrust unbrushed into its net.
From Australia Felix by Henry Handel Richardson
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
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 Gertrude Page
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 Arnold Bennett
Give him time and the untidiest boy in the world will develop into a gentleman, but eternity itself could not evolve a man out of a boy who plays marbles with a cushion!
From Rosemary and Rue by Amber
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
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 Horace W. C. (Horace Wykeham Can) Newte
O my chamber's untidied, unmade my bed Though the day has begun to wear!
From Wessex Poems and Other Verses by Thomas Hardy
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 Bernard Shaw
He hoped that her hands were not untidying him beyond quick repair: he very much disliked having his hair ruffled.
From Burning Sands by Arthur Weigal
You can't tidy anything without untidying yourself; just look at my trousers.
From Manalive by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
