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
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Keeping a tidy home often feels like a never-ending list of chores, from sweeping up crumbs after dinner to deep cleaning bathtubs and baseboards.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
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The lanky midfielder impacted the game by always being in the right place, rarely making mistakes, keeping the game simple with neat, tidy ball recoveries and pinpoint passes through spaces others rarely saw.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Freeland, a trim fifty-four-year-old who served as a pilot in the Marines, said that the Osprey attracted disproportionate criticism because of its novel tilt-rotor technology, and that many helicopters crashed just as often, if not more, when they were first introduced.—
Seth Harp,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
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Some varieties only need a light trim, while other varieties need a full pruning to get them through winter.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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All the flavor components of Caesar salad are wrapped in that neat bundle.—
Susan Selasky,
Freep.com,
27 Sep. 2025
-
The lanky midfielder impacted the game by always being in the right place, rarely making mistakes, keeping the game simple with neat, tidy ball recoveries and pinpoint passes through spaces others rarely saw.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kempt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kempt. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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