unkempt


Also found in: Thesaurus.

un·kempt

 (ŭn-kĕmpt′)
adj.
1. Not combed: unkempt hair.
2. Disorderly or untidy in appearance: an unkempt vagabond; an unkempt garden. See Synonyms at sloppy.

[Middle English unkemd : un-, not; see un-1 + kembed, past participle of kemben, to comb (from Old English cemban; see gembh- in Indo-European roots).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

unkempt

(ʌnˈkɛmpt)
adj
1. (of the hair) uncombed; dishevelled
2. ungroomed; slovenly: unkempt appearance.
3. archaic crude or coarse
[Old English uncembed; from un-1 + cembed, past participle of cemban to comb; related to Old Saxon kembian, Old High German kemben to comb]
unˈkemptly adv
unˈkemptness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

un•kempt

(ʌnˈkɛmpt)

adj.
1. not combed: unkempt hair.
2. uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy.
3. unpolished; rough; crude.
[1590–1600; un-1 + kempt combed, Middle English, past participle of kemben, Old English cemban to comb]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.unkempt - not neatly combedunkempt - not neatly combed; "wild unkempt hair"
uncombed - (of hair) not combed; "he was unwashed and uncombed with his clothes half buttoned"; "wild unkempt hair"
2.unkempt - not properly maintained or cared for; "an unkempt garden"; "native vistas and unkempt rambling paths"; "an ukempt appearance"
untidy - not neat and tidy; "careless and untidy in her personal habits"; "an untidy living room"; "untidy and casual about money"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

unkempt

adjective
1. uncombed, tousled, shaggy, ungroomed His hair was unkempt and filthy.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

unkempt

adjective
Marked by an absence of cleanliness and order:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

unkempt

[ˈʌnˈkempt] ADJ [clothes, appearance] → descuidado, desaliñado; [hair] → despeinado, descuidado; [beard, garden, park] → descuidado
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

unkempt

[ˌʌnˈkɛmpt] adj
[person] → débraillé(e); [appearance] → négligé(e); [hair] → mal peigné(e)
[grass] → mal entretenu(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

unkempt

adj hairungekämmt; appearance, garden etcungepflegt, vernachlässigt; person, beardungepflegt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

unkempt

[ʌnˈkɛmpt] adj (hair) → scarmigliato/a, spettinato/a; (appearance) → trasandato/a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
Through wooded glades he wanders with dancing nymphs who foot it on some sheer cliff's edge, calling upon Pan, the shepherd-god, long- haired, unkempt. He has every snowy crest and the mountain peaks and rocky crests for his domain; hither and thither he goes through the close thickets, now lured by soft streams, and now he presses on amongst towering crags and climbs up to the highest peak that overlooks the flocks.
It was with a sigh of relief that at last he came upon the little unpainted house, extraordinarily bedraggled now, and unkempt; but here too was the same intolerable silence.
All three were equally new, but numbers one and two were curtained and sedate, with a human, sociable look to them; while number three, with yawning door and unkempt garden, had apparently only just received its furniture and made itself ready for its occupants.
The others were no less ragged and unkempt, even the foppish Will Scarlet being so badly run down at the heel that the court ladies would hardly have had speech with him.
The arena was immense but extremely uneven and unkempt. Around it the Warhoons had piled building stone from some of the ruined edifices of the ancient city to prevent the animals and the captives from escaping into the audience, and at each end had been constructed cages to hold them until their turns came to meet some horrible death upon the arena.
Men on cycles, lean-faced, unkempt, scorched along every country lane shouting of unhoped deliverance, shouting to gaunt, staring figures of despair.
His hands were big, his hair wanted barbering, and his moustache was unkempt. But Anne thought she liked his face; it was kind and honest and tender; there was something else in it, too -- just what, Anne found it hard to define.
He himself felt the difference - he realised his ignorance, his unkempt and uncared-for appearance.
A little old man with unkempt beard was doing something bent down over some iron, muttering meaningless French words, and she, as she always did in this nightmare (it was what made the horror of it), felt that this peasant was taking no notice of her, but was doing something horrible with the iron-- over her.
It was a quarter well stocked with deformed, leering, unkempt and uncombed idiots, who held out hands or caps and begged piteously.
East, West, North, and South, through the woods, four heavy-treading, unkempt figures crushed the high grass and cracked the branches, striding on cautiously to come together in the courtyard.
How could he dare go, naked and unkempt, to that fair thing who had once been his jungle-fellow and propose the thing that had been in his mind when first the realization of his love had swept over him?