kempt
1
8.3
- adjective
- /kɛmpt/
:
bien cuidado
- The dog was kempt, with trimmed fur and shiny, clean ears.
- well-kempt
Examples
-
My grandmother, with the double-D breasts she kept kempt in the kitchen, the dining room, and under the morning sun while she combed her lake for invading water plants—but when she came from the shower, she let their paleness bob and swing as she toweled them with a quick, strong hand. I watched but did not watch.
Blog text (22) -
His hair was always kempt, giving him a polished and professional look.
-
Wish I'd it kempt; and neat.
-
That aside, though, this ranch is disappointingly kempt and quiet.
Fiction book (1993) -
A kempt yard that just isn't done the way you'd do it?
Blog text (28) -
And there was Charlie-Two, narrow and stern, with dark, strictly kempt hair, and eyes that bored into Bandicut's, trying to understand.
Fiction book (1994) -
Feaver recognized him from TV, a short man, slender, kempt with a compulsive orderliness.
Fiction book (2000) -
Tobias Barrow is, like Stephen Maturin, a slight, dark, ill-kempt orphan with great gifts for medicine and zoology but limited social graces.
Academic text (1996) -
We axed venerable estates with the same enthusiasm we stamped out the tract houses that still occasionally popped up, like weeds in an otherwise well-kempt garden.
Academic text (2008) -
She arrived at the party looking kempt in a neat dress and styled hair.
Synonyms
20
3.7
Having a neat, stylish appearance from careful grooming
16
6.2
Neat and stylish in the way a man dresses
13
3.8
Having a neat, smart look and tidy clothes
9
3.5
Neat and tidy in appearance with clean clothes and neat hair
5
3.0
Neat and slim in shape or style
2
4.1
Neatly trimmed and kept to look perfect, like a lawn or nails
Neat and clean in appearance because someone cares for it
Antonyms
Compounds
How Neat
Surface Forms
Etymology
Kempt comes from an Old English verb kemb meaning 'to comb', the same root as the common word comb. So to be kempt is like being 'combed', which is why it means neat, tidy and well-groomed.