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Definition of unkempt - 3 dictionary results
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un⋅kempt

  [uhn-kempt]
Use unkempt in a Sentence
–adjective
1. not combed: unkempt hair.
2. uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy: unkempt clothes; an unkempt lawn.
3. unpolished; rough; crude.
Origin:
1590–1600; var. of unkembed; see un- 1 , kempt

Related forms:
un⋅kempt⋅ly, adverb
un⋅kempt⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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un·kempt   (ŭn-kěmpt')   
adj.  

    1. Not combed: unkempt hair.

    2. Not properly maintained; disorderly or untidy: an unkempt garden. See Synonyms at sloppy.

  2. Unpolished; rude.


[Middle English unkemd : un-, not; see un-1 + kembed, past participle of kemben, to comb (from Old English cemban; see gembh- in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

unkempt 
1579, from un- (1) "not" + kempt "well-combed, neat," from variant pp. of O.E. cemban "to comb," from P.Gmc. *kambijan, from *kamb- "comb" (see comb). Form unkembed iss recorded from 1390. The verb kemb is rare after 1400s, but its negative pp. form endures.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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