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unbrushed

unbrushed

1 5.1
Hair or clothes that look messy because they are not combed
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈbrʌʃt/
translation icon : despeinado
  • I leaned back from her and looked closely at the falling waves on the top, the retreating flatter waves on the sides, and the unbrushed tumble in back.
  • unbrushed hair

Examples

  • Her hair was unbrushed and tangled as she hurried out the door for school.

  • The children's wild, unbrushed hair indicated they had been playing outside all afternoon.

  • Her hair was blond now, unbrushed, and her hands covered her eyes.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • His hair was unbrushed, and his eyes didn't quite connect with what they saw.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Another cart pushes around her, a young mother with wild, unbrushed hair, or maybe it's supposed to look that way.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • If he were a dog, I'd call him an unbrushed collie who carries himself like a chocolate Lab.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • It was thick with an unbrushed curl, the way it always was first thing in the morning.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Nearly sixteen, her unbrushed black hair wavy over her shoulders and back, framing her olive skin, her full lips deepening her black eyes, Sarita pulled the father and the son from each other.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • They were strolling through the Columbus Avenue Street Fair, near the Museum of Natural History, and she was complaining about how disorganized she was: always arriving late at her clients' apartments, hair unbrushed, breathless, gulping coffee from a cardboard cup.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • After a long day at work, he fell asleep with his unbrushed hair sticking in every direction.

Synonyms

unkempt
vsunbrushed
13 5.1

Not neat in appearance, often with messy hair or clothes

is narrower, referring to untidiness specifically from lack of smoothing
uncombed
vsunbrushed
2 3.0

Hair that looks messy because it has not been brushed

applies to hair or clothes left untidy from not being smoothed
ungroomed
vsunbrushed
1 5.1

Not neat or tidy in appearance

focuses on untidiness caused specifically by not being smoothed
unmanicured
vsunbrushed
1 6.1

A thing not neatly kept or cut that looks natural

is about untidiness of hair or clothes from not being smoothed

Antonyms

47 1.0

Having things in order with no mess

1.3

Having hair or clothes smoothed to look neat

How Brushed

groomed
3.0
brushed
1.3
unbrushed
1 5.1
unkempt
13 5.1
matted
1 5.3

Surface Forms

unbrushed positive

Morphology

unbrushed = brushed (transparent) = un + brush + ed

The adjective is a straightforward negative formed by adding un- to 'brushed' (brush+ed), so its meaning follows standard negation.

Etymology

Unbrushed is simply un- meaning 'not' plus brushed, from the everyday tool brush used 'to clean or smooth'. So unbrushed means hair or clothes that are 'not brushed' and therefore look untidy.