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PlainSpell

unkempt

un·kempt/ˌʌnˈkɛmpt/adjective

unkempt is an adjective meaning “uncombed, dishevelled” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled U-N-K-E-M-P-T and has 2 syllables (un·kempt), and it appears about once in every 2 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does unkempt mean?

adjective

  1. 1

    uncombed, dishevelled.

  2. 2

    Disorderly; untidy; messy; not kept up.

    unkempt bedroom

  3. 3

    Rough; unpolished.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce unkempt?

  • US /ˌʌnˈkɛmpt/

Unkempt has 2 syllables, split un·kempt in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-unkempt.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-unkempt.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of unkempt

  • more unkempt comparative
  • most unkempt superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is unkempt?

Unkempt appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,767th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Unkempt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

In the sense dishevelled; untidy; dirty; not kept up:

LanguageWords
Frenchébouriffé
Germanschäbig, struppig, ungepflegt, ungekämmt, ungemacht, unaufgeräumt
Portuguesedesgrenhado
Spanishdesaliñado, despeinado, desprolijo

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does unkempt come from?

From earlier unkembed, unkemmed, from Middle English unkempt (“uncombed”), equivalent to un- + kempt. Compare Old Norse úkembdr (uncombed; unkempt"; whence Icelandic ókembdur), German ungekämmt (“unkempt”), Dutch ongekamd. More at kemb.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).