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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The gross for the week was a tidy haul of $1,059,380.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
17 Mar. 2026
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Persistent allergy sufferers may be surprised to learn that even the tidiest indoor spaces can be full of pollutants.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
For more than a century, academics identified this statue as conveying a calm, neat, and virtuous masculinity.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
10 Mar. 2026
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Putting it in spring training was always a neat solution, but don’t the game’s best players deserve to give their all in a competition that will bring glory and pride to their home nations?—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The color, style, and design of railings, trim, porch columns, and even balusters can have a heavy impact on the appearance of the home.—
Timothy Dale,
The Spruce,
13 Mar. 2026
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Gross says that using color on the moulding, trim, and even the outside edges of a door is one of her favorite ways to create whimsy.—
Cori Sears,
Better Homes & Gardens,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Kempt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kempt. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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