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unkempt

[uhn-kempt]

Origin

adjective

not combed: unkempt hair.

uncared-for or neglected; disheveled; messy: unkempt clothes; an unkempt lawn.

unpolished; rough; crude.

Origin:
1590–1600; variant 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. 2012.
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Unkempt is always a great word to know.

So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

unkempt (ʌnˈkɛmpt)

—*adj*
1.	(of the hair) uncombed; dishevelled
2.	ungroomed; slovenly: unkempt appearance
3.	archaic crude or coarse

[Old English uncembed; from un-¹ + cembed, past participle of cemban to comb; related to Old Saxon kembian, Old High German kemben to comb]

un'kemptly

—*adv*

un'kemptness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

unkempt

1570s, 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 late 14c. The verb kemb is rare after 1400s, but its negative pp. form endures.

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Related Words

blowzy grub grubby grunge ill-kempt

ill-kempt scraggly shabby tatterdemalion

Matching Quote

"... when a great burly six feet of masculinity with sloping shoulders and unkempt beard swaggers in, and, throwing a roll of tobacco into one corner of his jaw, growls out at me over the paper I am reading, "Here gurl," (I am past thirty) "you better git out 'n dis kyar 'f yer don't, I'll put yer out"Mmy mental annotation is Here's an American citizen who has been badly trained. He is sadly lacking in both "sweetness" and "light" ..."

-Anna Julia Cooper

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