as in tidy
being clean and in good order
a distinguished-looking gentleman with a kempt beard and an old-world manner
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
Whether banger or ballad, her tracks make room for characters, settings, twists, a tidy ending, a cliff-hanger.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
4 Sep. 2025
-
The interior is charming, too, with low bucket seats, tidy vinyl trim called Vynide, and a flat windshield in the spirit of prewar sports cars.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The standard trim, layer, and fine-tune features are all here, plus elements like automatic captions, text, 4K HDR, and more.—
James Peckham,
PC Magazine,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Cut to the ubiquitous trim, tight, cropped pants that have dominated the men’s market for years now.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
Footwear News,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The traditional ignition on the steering wheel’s left is replaced by a start/stop button — a neat updating of Porsche’s legacy.—
Mark Phelan,
USA Today,
7 Sep. 2025
-
The inclusion on one concourse wall of the poem ‘Goodison is forever’ that PJ Smith recited at the old ground’s final act as the home of the men’s team in May is another neat touch.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kempt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kempt. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share