1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

unclean

adjective

ˌən-ˈklēn How to pronounce unclean (audio)
Definition of uncleannext
1
as in corrupt
having or showing lowered moral character or standards there's something unclean about this whole business

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in filthy
not clean a lackadaisical waiter who tried to set our table with smudged glasses and unclean silverware

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 unclean This is more than a body odor problem — unclean clothes and linens are ripe feeding grounds for infectious bacteria. — Rahul Rao, Space.com, 19 Aug. 2026 Travelers may encounter issues like unclean accommodations and higher flight cancellation rates. — Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2026 Nathu is told that the carcass is required for veterinary purposes, but it is later placed on the steps of a mosque to provoke Muslim anger since pigs are traditionally considered unclean in Islam. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026 Unfortunately, during the early to mid-twentieth century, negative perceptions of immigrant and ethnic laborers led many outsiders to view their neighborhoods as unsafe, unclean, and detrimental to the social fabric of American cities. — Michelle Oliva-Espinosa, Kansas City Star, 18 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for unclean
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unclean
  1. corrupt
  2. filthy
  3. sick
  4. dirty
  5. degraded
  6. stained
  7. dusty
  8. blackened
Adjective
  • Many choose to make use of a corrupt brokerage system, where people with connections in the foreign ministry and other regime appendages facilitate large bribes for new, and sometimes fake, documentation.
    — Andrew Nachemson, The Dial, 22 Sep. 2026
  • But already the thought tugged at me that the scales that had turned were not celestial, but legal, the workings of the same system condemned in the camp as corrupt and broken.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrupt
Adjective
  • Jurors heard testimony from three of Alsheikh’s victims who said they were packed into small, filthy, cold, wet cells that were infested with insects and other vermin.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
  • That praise rings true more than a decade later thanks to joke after filthy joke, cameo after foul-mouthed cameo, scare after genuine scare.
    — Sara Netzley, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of filthy
Adjective
  • Khadijah had insisted on nursing their newborn Aziza with her own breast milk, but Latif discovers that only a few pouches remain in the fridge and formula makes his baby sick.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • As well as being a holy site, Lourdes attracts around 3 million pilgrims a year, including approximately 60,000 sick and disabled pilgrims.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of sick
Adjective
  • Cans, water containers, mattresses and crosses - seeming evidence of the home's former Christian occupants — lay scattered across a dirty room.
    — Diego Ibarra Sánchez, NPR, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The lingerers brought their dirty dishes to the bus tub, wiped their mouths one last time with a napkin, and waved to Cleo, their faces saying, Nice job!
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of dirty
Adjective
  • Her organization supplies useful trees, restores degraded land while improving biodiversity.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The hospital treats about 175 major pediatric spine cases per year, sparing patients from pain, and in some advanced cases, degraded lung function.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of degraded
Adjective
  • Pushing those briars aside revealed a single splinter of stained glass, bright as a ruby and warm as blood.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
  • With stained glass, the gray light from outside is filtered through beautiful pieces of glass.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of stained
Adjective
  • The hot and dusty city streets were bathed in decorative green light to celebrate National Day, as hundreds of electronic billboards projected the sword and script of the Saudi flag, shown fluttering as if caught in a breeze.
    — Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Raghubir Goyal, an eccentric veteran of the briefing room who serves as White House correspondent for India Globe, a newspaper that appears to no longer exist, stood at the press secretary’s dusty podium and filmed selfie videos.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of dusty
Adjective
  • The land, unfenced, abuts a bald blackened hillside that must be public land.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Definition of blackened

Browse Nearby Words

unclassified
unclean
uncleaned
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unclean.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unclean. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of argot

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All