kempt
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kempt¹
- /kɛm(p)t/ US, UK
Rhymes with -ɛmpt
Where it comes from
Partly from both of the following:
* An adjective use of kempt, the past participle of kemb (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) to comb”), from Middle English kemben (“to comb (oneself or someone, or something); to card (wool, etc.); to make (something) elegant or smooth; (figurative) to make (something) gentle”) (compare the past participle forms kempde, kempte), from Old English cemban (“to comb”) from Proto-West Germanic *kambijan (“to comb, kemb”), from Proto-Germanic *kambijaną (“to comb, kemb”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth; row of teeth”), from *ǵembʰ- (“to bite, chomp; to crunch”).
* A back-formation from unkempt.
adjective more kempt · most kempt
-
Of a person's beard or hair: combed.
Faint and in pain he propped his weary head, / And his kempt beard adown his bosom spread.
Opposite: unkempt
-
Of wool or other fibres: combed.
[W]hen maidens vvere to be vvedded, there attended upon them a diſtaffe, dreſſed and trimmed vvith kembed vvooll, as alſo a ſpindle and yearne upon it.
Opposite: unkempt
-
Neat and tidy.
The street paving was badly worn, but looked marvelously smooth and kempt to Winterbourne, accustomed to roads worn into deep ruts and reft with shell-holes.
Similar: well-groomed, all Sir Garnet, Bristol fashion and shipshape, in order, neat, neat and tidy, neat as a new pin, neat as a pin, nice as ninepence, orderly, prest, regular · Opposite: ill-kempt, unkempt, chaotic, cluttered, disorderly, messy, ree-raw, riotous, sluttish, tempestuous, tumultuary, tumultuous
kempt²
- /kɛm(p)t/ US, UK
Rhymes with -ɛmpt
Where it comes from
From kemb + -t (suffix forming the past tense and/or past participle forms of verbs).
Talk about this word "kempt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/kempt. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. kempt. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/kempt "kempt." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/kempt.Cite this
@misc{kempt_2026,
title = {kempt},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kempt},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
