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uncombed

uncombed

2 3.0
Hair that looks messy because it has not been brushed
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈkoʊmd/
translation icon : despeinado
  • Her hair was uncombed, and she looked tired.
  • uncombed hair

He sat still while his aunt bound back her uncombed hair.

Examples

  • Her face was pretty, but her clothes were threadbare, and her hair was thin and uncombed.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • His uncombed hair covered his forehead, and tiredness bruised the skin beneath his eyes.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Her hair was silver and uncombed, and she smiled with a gold tooth.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • He sat still while his aunt bound back her uncombed hair.

  • Another young man, his top lip hidden by a moustache, and a woman with uncombed hair came into the hall.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The image froze: Howard, hair uncombed, in his trademark black suit and work shirt.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The two of them seem so much alike at first glance, both with long, uncombed blond hair, both in white saris.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • But that morning he was also soiled, sagging, unshaved, and uncombed, his eyes bloodshot and glary.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Dueine was red-eyed and uncombed; she sat down beside me, ignoring an icy glance from Hu Moon.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Her hair was clean but uncombed, falling messily around her shoulders.

Synonyms

unkempt
vsuncombed
13 5.1

Not neat in appearance, often with messy hair or clothes

is hair simply left unsmoothed rather than broadly neglected
tousled
vsuncombed
5 5.3

Hair that looks messy after sleep or wind

is hair left messy because it received no prior smoothing
ungroomed
vsuncombed
1 5.1

Not neat or tidy in appearance

is hair left unmade specifically by missing smoothing action
unbrushed
vsuncombed
1 5.1

Hair or clothes that look messy because they are not combed

is hair left without the narrow-toothed smoothing action
unmanicured
vsuncombed
1 6.1

A thing not neatly kept or cut that looks natural

is hair left without specific straightening and tidying action
shaggy-haired
vsuncombed
1 3.7

Long, thick hair that looks messy and not neat

is hair left unsmoothed, not necessarily long or thick
shock-headed
vsuncombed
8.0

A person who has thick, untidy hair that sticks up

is hair simply unsmoothed, not always forming a bushy mass
shaggy-coated
vsuncombed
4.5

Having long, thick, untidy fur or hair that needs brushing

is about hair left unsmoothed, not about long thick texture

Antonyms

1.0

Hair that someone makes tidy by using a comb

How Neat

well-groomed
9 3.5
neat
144 1.0
messy
233 1.0
uncombed
2 3.0
tousled
5 5.3
tangled
7 3.3
matted
1 5.3

Surface Forms

uncombed positive

Morphology

uncombed = combed (transparent) = un + comb + ed

The negation prefix 'un-' is attached to the participial/adjectival 'combed', yielding the straightforward meaning 'not combed'.

Etymology

Uncombed starts with un- meaning 'not' and comes from comb, the simple tool used to make hair neat. So uncombed means hair that has not been combed and looks messy.