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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Example Sentences
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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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Their relationship was volatile and messy, not tidy or palatable.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
31 Oct. 2025
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Eastherry Over The Door Pantry Organizer For large pantries with too many ingredients, an over-the-door organizer is the best way to keep things tidy without overtaking your shelves.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The recall comes six months after Tesla and the NHTSA recalled roughly 46,000 Cybertrucks that were at risk of a trim panel detaching.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
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This method for choosing a color scheme pairs a soft neutral for the walls, a crisp white for trim, baseboards, and ceilings, and a deeper version of the wall color for doors or window frames.—
Elizabeth Fogarty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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However, experts told McClatchy News that politically motivated attacks often defy neat categorization.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
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The neat man called Abdi gave me one precise nod.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kempt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kempt. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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