unkempt
Americanadjective
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not combed.
unkempt hair.
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uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy.
unkempt clothes; an unkempt lawn.
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unpolished; rough; crude.
adjective
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(of the hair) uncombed; dishevelled
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ungroomed; slovenly
unkempt appearance
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archaic crude or coarse
Other Word Forms
- unkemptly adverb
- unkemptness noun
Etymology
Origin of unkempt
Explanation
Unkempt literally means "not combed," but use it to describe anything with a sloppy appearance. Your hair probably looks unkempt when you roll out of bed in the morning. Keep it that way if you're going for the rock star look. From the fusing of un-, "not" with kempt, "neat," comes the adjective unkempt. Kempt has fallen out of use, but unkempt persists as a popular word to describe anything unpolished, rough, or disorderly. Pig sties, the corrals where pigs live, are usually quite unkempt. That's why your mom keeps calling your messy, unkempt train wreck of a room a pig sty.
Vocabulary lists containing unkempt
The Call of the Wild
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The One and Only Ivan
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Uglies
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some people might judge Roxanne’s home as messy or unkempt.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026
We checked into our hotel during the wee hours of the morning, all of us tired, slightly unkempt and desperately in need of a warm shower.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
In it, he played a nerdy, unkempt co-founder who gets left behind when the business takes off.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
The house appeared unkempt and had signs of disrepair.
From BBC • Jul. 26, 2025
When they came to Bill Ferny’s house they saw that the hedge there was tattered and unkempt, and the windows were all boarded up.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
