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:
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
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
A superfluous major on his rolls meant an untidy table of organization and gave ammunition to the men at Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters who Colonel Cathcart was positive were his enemies and rivals.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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
Char saw Mrs. Potter, untidier than ever, handing steaming cups across her buffet with incredible rapidity.
From The War-Workers by E.M. Delafield
As for their studio—there was no untidier jumble of old armor and brasses and Spanish leather in Paris; and Mme.
From Frances Waldeaux by Rebecca Harding Davis
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
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
The bloods wore evening dress; even the untidiest junior oiled his hair and put on a clean collar.
From The Loom of Youth by Alec Waugh
He shut himself off from the world, and stopped his ears; lived in the untidiest of rooms, and would not have his garden tended, "preferring to see all things wild and savage about him."
From Great Pictures, As Seen and Described by Famous Writers by Esther Singleton
She did not answer when I knocked; and when I stepped softly in the room I saw her in bed, asleep, with her work not half done, lying about the room in the untidiest way.
From The Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins
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
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
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
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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