unkempt
What is another word for unkempt? Here is its meaning, with related words and examples.
Adj — (of hair) Not combed, and looking messy.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. adj
(of hair) Not combed, and looking messy.
“He was a queer shoot, again, in his unkempt longish hair and slovenly clothes, a sort of very vulgar down-at-heel American in appearance.”
Opposites
Etymology
This word goes back to earlier forms unkembed and unkemmed, from Middle English unkempt (“uncombed”), equivalent to un- + kempt. Compare Old Norse úkembdr (“uncombed; unkempt”; whence Icelandic ókembdur), German ungekämmt (“unkempt”) and Dutch ongekamd. See also kemb.
Full origin of unkempt →