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View synonyms for unkempt

unkempt

[ uhn-kempt ]

adjective

  1. not combed:

    unkempt hair.

  2. uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy:

    unkempt clothes; an unkempt lawn.

  3. unpolished; rough; crude.


unkempt

/ ʌnˈkɛmpt /

adjective

  1. (of the hair) uncombed; dishevelled
  2. ungroomed; slovenly

    unkempt appearance

  3. archaic.
    crude or coarse
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • unˈkemptness, noun
  • unˈkemptly, adverb
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Other Words From

  • un·kemptly adverb
  • un·kemptness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of unkempt1

1590–1600; variant of unkembed; un- 1, kempt
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Word History and Origins

Origin of unkempt1

Old English uncembed; from un- 1+ cembed, past participle of cemban to comb ; related to Old Saxon kembian, Old High German kemben to comb
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Example Sentences

Yard debris like dry leaves, branches, and unkempt trees are a fuel for wildfires to spread quickly and ferociously.

From Quartz

As Rob, he’s bearded and unkempt but still radiant, a messy movie Jesus.

From Time

If you’re planning an audio-only podcast, then feel free to show up unshowered in your favorite pair of unkempt, soft pants.

More men are asking how they can donate their wild, unkempt hair once they can finally get haircuts, Chimera said.

Half-naked crew members jammed themselves into lifeboats and rowed away … We were close enough to see their unkempt beards and the tattoos on their arms.

Lemkin hung around the proceedings, disheveled and unkempt, but determined.

The typically fresh-faced, photogenic 31-year-old actor is sporting a bushy, unkempt, downright Biblical-looking beard.

Al Pacino comes dressed in black and gray, wearing multiple bracelets and an unkempt tuft of hair poking up from his scalp.

Strands of unkempt white hair wave above his head like an anti-surrender flag.

It was a hot Friday morning and Brad Zaun was juggling a baby in a slightly unkempt living room of suburban Des Moines.

These unkempt-looking Father Times and Methuselahs prowl about the staircases of the different ateliers daily.

George jerked his peaked cap from his head, revealing a tangle of unkempt red hair.

They were resting on their cumbrous belongings, strange groups, unkempt and half dressed.

They were standing now in front of a tall, gloomy house, unkempt, with broken gate—a large but miserable-looking abode.

And at the trail's end the unkempt, ribald crew swarmed their dark and dirty camp as a band of pirates a galleon.

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Unkelosunkenned