unkempt: [15] Unkempt means literally ‘uncombed’. It was coined from the prefix un- ‘not’ and the past participle of the now defunct verb kemb ‘comb’. This came from a prehistoric Germanic *kambjan, a derivative of *kambaz ‘comb’ (ancestor of the English noun comb). It began to be replaced by the new verb comb in the 14th century. => comb
unkempt (adj.)
1570s, from un- (1) "not" + kempt "well-combed, neat," from variant past participle of Middle English kemben "to comb," from Old English cemban "to comb," from Proto-Germanic *kambijan, from *kamb- "comb" (see comb (n.)). Form unkembed is recorded from late 14c. The verb kemb is rare after 1400s, but its negative past participle form endures.
实用例句
1. He had long unkempt hair and a stubbly chin.
他的头发又长又乱，脸上胡子拉碴。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The old beggar was dirty and unkempt.
那个老乞丐蓬头垢面.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. The brick path to the door was hemmed in on either side by tall, unkempt boxwood hedges.
通往门口的砖路两旁是高大、杂乱的黄杨树篱。
来自柯林斯例句
4. His hair was unkempt and filthy.
他的头发蓬乱污秽。
来自辞典例句
5. She slopped about her room, unkempt and dishevelled, in her tawdry dressing - gown.
