Dictionary

unkempt en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˌʌnˈkɛmpt/ (UK, US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From earlier unkembed, unkemmed, from Middle English unkempt (“uncombed”), equivalent to un- + kempt. Compare Old Norse úkembdr (uncombed; unkempt"; whence Icelandic ókembdur), German ungekämmt (“unkempt”), Dutch ongekamd. More at kemb.

Meanings

1. (of hair) uncombed, dishevelled.
   • He was a queer shoot, again, in his unkempt longish hair and slovenly clothes, a sort of very vulgar down-at-heel American in appearance. 1916, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “John”, in Twilight in Italy, London: Duckworth and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 211–212:
   • Now, upon his whole person, from the crown of his unkempt head down to his broken, dusty boots, there yet clung that air of jaunty, devil-may-care rakishness. 1910, Jeffery Farnol, chapter 3, in The Broad Highway:
   • Men on cycles, lean-faced, unkempt, scorched along every country lane, shouting of unhoped deliverance, shouting to gaunt, staring figures of despair. 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 289:
2. (broadly, figuratively) Disorderly; untidy; messy; not kept up.
   • And his egotism and conceit were not to be borne; and then he was both tawdry and dirty in his person; more greasily, mattedly unkempt than even a really successful pianist has any right to be, even in the best society. 1894, George du Maurier, Trilby:
   • The Countess had liked Elsa from the first moment when she saw her, ragged, unkempt and forlorn, among the lowering, suspicious men-at-arms in the courtyard, and now that she knew the dangers and the privations the girl had braved for the sake of Wilhelm, the affectionate heart of Beatrix found ample room for the motherless Elsa. 2014, Robert Barr, The Strong Arm: And Other Stories, →ISBN, page 64:
   • unkempt bedroom
3. (figuratively) Rough; unpolished.

Forms

Antonyms

orderly · tidy · clean · foppish · stylish · neat

Deriveds

unkemptitude · unkemptness · unkemptly

Hypernyms

schlubby · disorderly · unclean

Hyponyms

raggy · ungroomed · distressed · Clothing · untrimmed · tousle-headed · uncombed · tatty · unwashed · tousle-haired · faded · Other personal grooming · motheaten · matted · tousled · tattered · threadbare · frizzy · ragged · scraggly · shaggy · unbrushed · shagged · Hair · knotted · frowzled

Relateds

unfashionable · ramshackle · untidy person · nitty

Synonyms

draggled · slammocky · slovenlike · ragged · dishevelled · blowsy · ragtag · grungy · unshaven · scrofulous · draggle-tailed · slobby · down at heel · bedraggled · mean · scroungy · slobbish · out at the heels · slatternly · downgone · unfine · schlumpy · sloppy · dowdy · shabby · frumpy · sluttish · slovenly · dishevelled · hashy · unkemmed · grufty · grotty · unkempt · piggy · tacky · schleppy · scruffy · scratty · seedy · mangy · frowsy · dowdyish · scrungy · qualifier · slovenly · slummocky · ribby · trampish · tore up

Translations (53)

es desprolijo (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · tyz bông (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · el απεριποίητος (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · cs zanedbaný (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · es desaliñado (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · de ungepflegt (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ru нечёсаный (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · cs neudržovaný (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ota پنتی (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · de ungekämmt (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mi paranokenoke (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ru неопря́тный (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ka მოუწესრიგებელი (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · cmn 不修邊幅 /不修边幅 (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · es despeinado (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ru всклоко́ченный (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · fi hoitamaton (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · bg рошав (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · de struppig (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mk ра́сфрлен (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · cmn 邋遢 (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · unm wiàkskinakwsi (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · la incomptus (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · pt desgrenhado (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · tr dağınık (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ru неря́шливый (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · nl slordig (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ka მოუვლელი (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mi puhirua (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · cs rozcuchaný (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ka უსუფთაო (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mi hīwanawana (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · tr pejmürde (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · tr bakımsız (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · de unaufgeräumt (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · gl desaliñado (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ru растрёпанный (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · it scompigliato (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · nl onverzorgd (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · de schäbig (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · bg несресан (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · cs neučesaný (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · fi ruokkoamaton (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · ru взъеро́шенный (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · de ungemacht (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mi kōritorito (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mk ро́шав (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · nrf crîngneux (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mi pūhutihuti (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · mi uarapa (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · vi bù xù (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · fr ébouriffé (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up) · cs neupravený (dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up)