Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Not combed.
- adjective Disorderly or untidy in appearance: synonym: sloppy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Uncombed; disheveled: as, unkempt hair; hence, disorderly, Figuratively, rough; unpolished.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not combed; disheveled.
- adjective Fig.; Not smoothed; unpolished; rough.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
dishevelled ;untidy ;dirty ; not kept up
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective not properly maintained or cared for
- adjective not neatly combed
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I had never used the word unkempt and from his bizarre behavior, one would think I had suggested his unruly mop looked like the Uni-bomber.
The Beard 2009
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a dozen dozing till the June sun strikes their bows, these watercraft that seem to be randomly strewn in unkempt yards.
Midday Mirage 2005
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a dozen dozing till the June sun strikes their bows, these watercraft that seem to be randomly strewn in unkempt yards.
Midday Mirage 2005
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And, referring to my unkempt, bushy eyebrows, she said, “You look just like Brooke Shields!”
You’ll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again Heather McDonald 2010
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He had removed his coat and starched collar preparatory to playing with the boy, and his disheveled appearance irresistibly recalled the unkempt individual who had first captured my heart.
The Curse of the Pharaohs Peters, Elizabeth, 1927- 1981
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So roughly 800 pounds of supposedly highly trained RCMP beef trembled in fear when confronted by the stapler-wielding, "unkempt" Robert Dziekanski.
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He was by himself and one interesting thing was that his appearance had changed slightly, that he had lost some weight and his hair grew longer, kind of unkempt is the way we were described to it.
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Anthony Paltz, 20, a UW-Madison pre-pharmacy student who was walking down State Street at the time, described the arrested man as "unkempt" and said he was wearing a kilt.
Archive 2007-05-01 Ann Althouse 2007
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The victim describes the man as "unkempt" and police are asking for the public's help in identifying the attacker.
Torontoist 2010
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The facility appeared "unkempt" and some of the fish tanks were dirty, Brzezinski said.
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