as in tidy
being clean and in good order
a distinguished-looking gentleman with a kempt beard and an old-world manner
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Recent Examples of kempt
The creeping ivy of rap had crawled over their white picket fences, across their kempt green lawns, and around their Victorian homes, weakening the old walls between cultures.
—
Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
The whole place is well kempt.
—Amanda Walker, al, 15 Aug. 2020
There was a whiff of mystery, a sense that something more was going on behind those well-kempt exteriors.
—Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 9 Feb. 2018
Silence your internal neat freak A well-kempt garden is the toad’s worst enemy.
—Molly Marquand, Good Housekeeping, 16 May 2017
A well-kempt courtyard for visitors conceals the prison’s overcrowding—stuffed to nine times its capacity with up to 250 women sharing a cell.
—National Geographic, 19 Oct. 2016
Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
The whole place is well kempt.
—Amanda Walker, al, 15 Aug. 2020
There was a whiff of mystery, a sense that something more was going on behind those well-kempt exteriors.
—Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 9 Feb. 2018
Silence your internal neat freak A well-kempt garden is the toad’s worst enemy.
—Molly Marquand, Good Housekeeping, 16 May 2017
A well-kempt courtyard for visitors conceals the prison’s overcrowding—stuffed to nine times its capacity with up to 250 women sharing a cell.
—National Geographic, 19 Oct. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kempt
Adjective
-
Life, certainly not Michael Jackson’s life, was ever that neat and tidy.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
21 Apr. 2026
-
Downtown Wilmington and its suburbs looked tidy and well-kept.—
Nataliya Gumenyuk,
The Dial,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Here’s another neat trick from Jordan.—
Caron Golden,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Life, certainly not Michael Jackson’s life, was ever that neat and tidy.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
For the invite-only event, Roberts styled the shorts with a black zip-up jacket with white trim, oversized sunglasses, and leather ankle boots.—
Chanel Vargas,
InStyle,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Nearly every automaker has some off-road variant or trim.—
Morgan Korn,
ABC News,
12 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Kempt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kempt. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026.
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