unwashed en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle English unwasched, unwasschyd, unwessched, a weak verb conjugation of earlier Middle English unwaschen (“unwashen”), equivalent to un- + washed.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Not having been washed.
I say that the eyass should have her meat unwashed, until she becomes a brancher—’twere the ready way to give her the frounce, to wash her meat sooner, and so knows every one who knows a gled from a falcon.
1820, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 85:When Handy had gone, Bert Barricue sagged in, unwashed, unshaven. He sat down stiffly.
1949, Dorothy M. Johnson, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 106:
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(not-comparable) Vulgar, plebeian, lowbrow.
Gannon is looked upon with distrust by a good many members of the Citizens’ Committee—or perhaps it is with jealousy. He remains, however, a hero to the unwashed elements.
1958, Oakley Hall, Warlock:“Yeah, wading down into the comments. "Winsomely compelling cop-aganda," says C-Rob-69. Oh, wait, that was me.” “Drivel for the unwashed. The Bard, how he weeps.”
2024 November 25, Max Brockman, “P.I. Undercover: New York” (1:41 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 6, episode 8, spoken by Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch):
Deriveds
unwashed masses · great unwashed · unwashedness
Synonyms
Translations (14)
gv neunieet (not washed) · got 𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽𐍃 (not washed) · grc ἄνιπτος (not washed) · da uvasket (not washed) · nn uvaska (not washed) · el άνιφτος (not washed) · nb uvasket (not washed) · de ungewaschen (not washed) · izh pesemätöin (not washed) · hi अनधोया (not washed) · nl ongewassen (not washed) · grc ἄπλυτος (not washed) · gv neuoonlit (not washed) · gv neughlen (not washed)