unkempt
pronunciation
How to pronounce unkempt in British English:
UK [ˌʌnˈkempt]
How to pronounce unkempt in American English:
US [ʌnˈkɛmpt]
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- Adjective:
- not neatly combed
- not neat or cared for; slovenly
- not properly maintained
Word Origin
- unkempt
- unkempt: [15] Unkempt means literally ‘uncombed’. It was coined from the prefix un- ‘not’ and the past participle of the now defunct verb kemb ‘comb’. This came from a prehistoric Germanic *kambjan, a derivative of *kambaz ‘comb’ (ancestor of the English noun comb). It began to be replaced by the new verb comb in the 14th century.=> comb
- unkempt (adj.)
- 1570s, from un- (1) "not" + kempt "well-combed, neat," from variant past participle of Middle English kemben "to comb," from Old English cemban "to comb," from Proto-Germanic *kambijan, from *kamb- "comb" (see comb (n.)). Form unkembed is recorded from late 14c. The verb kemb is rare after 1400s, but its negative past participle form endures.
Example
- 1. Our clothes were in rags , our appearance unkempt and forbidding .
- 2. Her hair is unkempt after camping for a week .
- 3. Although he has alabaster skin , unkempt hair and a lanky frame , edward cullen might still be the most approachable vampire to date .
- 4. He 's so unkempt , and his clothes are just rags .
- 5. Her mousey hair was seldom seen pristine , always slightly unkempt , yet all the more chic by anyone 's standards .