unkempt

un·kempt

adjective \-ˈkem(p)t\

Definition of UNKEMPT

1

: not combed <unkempt hair>

2

: deficient in order or neatness <unkempt individuals> <unkempt hotel rooms>; also : rough, unpolished <unkempt prose>

Examples of UNKEMPT

1. She wore rumpled clothing and her hair was unkempt.
2. <an unkempt and cluttered room>

Origin of UNKEMPT

Middle English unkemd, unkempt, from un- + kembed, kempt, past participle of kemben to comb, from Old English cemban; akin to Old High German chempen to comb, Old English camb comb — more at comb

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to UNKEMPT

Synonyms

chaotic, cluttered, confused, disarranged, disarrayed, disheveled (or dishevelled), disordered, disorderly, higgledy-piggledy, hugger-mugger, jumbled, littered, messed, muddled, mussed, mussy, pell-mell, rumpled, sloppy, topsy-turvy, tousled, tumbled, messy, untidy, upside-down

Antonyms

bandbox, crisp, kempt, neat, neatened, ordered, orderly, organized, shipshape, snug, tidied, tidy, trim, uncluttered, well-ordered

Related Words

bedraggled, befouled, begrimed, bemired, besmirched, blackened, cruddy, dingy, dirty, draggled, filthy, foul, grimy, grotty [chiefly British], grubby, grungy, mucky, nasty, smudged, soiled, spotted, squalid, stained, sullied, unclean, uncleanly; dowdy, frowsy (or frowzy), shaggy, slatternly, sloven, slovenly, uncombed; wrinkled; adulterated, contaminated, defiled, polluted, tainted; knotted, snarled, tangled; seedy, shabby, sleazy, sordid; neglected, neglectful, negligent

Near Antonyms

antiseptic, clean, cleaned, cleanly, hygienic, immaculate, sparkling, spick-and-span (or spic-and-span), spotless, stainless, unsoiled, unsullied; methodical (also methodic), regular, systematic, systematized; careful, fastidious, finicky, fussy, meticulous; combed, groomed, manicured, well-groomed; taintless, undefiled, unpolluted, untainted, wholesome

Rhymes with UNKEMPT

attempt, exempt