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  1. kempt love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Tidy; trim: a nicely kempt beard.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A past participle of kemb.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. neat and tidy; especially used of hair

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. p. p. of kemb; combed.
  2. Neatly kept; tidy. Opposite of unkempt.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. (of hair) neat and tidy

Etymologies

  1. Originally a past participle of Old English cemban ("to comb"). Modern uses are back-formations from the negative unkempt. (Wiktionary)
  2. Back-formation from unkempt. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “With his thick gray hair, salt-and-pepper beard, and aviator glasses, he looked like a well-kempt Jerry Garcia.”

    The Velvet Reformation

  • “Chestnut tresses, once close-cut and well-kempt, fall almost to his shoulders which slump in ressentiment: * to every hair however stray, those shoulders seem to say, Halt!”

    wine maker

  • “On the whole, she was not much cleaner or any better kempt than the ragamuffin boy.”

    Simon & Schuster: Uprising

  • “Half-wit neighborhood darling parks a new Denali in the driveway and his family twiglegs around it in hostile kempt gladhands.”

    Fictionaut: Suburban Home Sinks into the Pacific

  • “Further proof of this trend resides not merely in recent childhood obesity and Type-II diabetes data, but also through observing the well-kempt suburban neighborhoods throughout L.A. seemingly designed for the sole purpose of outdoor activity - for impromptu outbreaks of tag, red rover, and pickle - that are now eerily bereft of the sights and sounds of children at play.”

    The Huffington Post: Brock Cohen: Welcome to Bubble Boy Nation

  • “   She pictures him sitting atop some weatherbeaten couch in a small apartment somewhere, his hair longer and less kempt, opening it with anticipation -”

    Fictionaut: Caitlin in the Y2K Museum

  • “On the far side of the table are a number of well-kempt academic types.”

    hughstimson.org » Blog Archive » Liveblogging the GEO Contract Negotiations

  • “April 9, 2010 at 5:17 pm matt kempt looks like a thug 2 me”

    World Cup: England Vs Germany, BBC

  • “Chestnut tresses, once close-cut and well-kempt, fall almost to his shoulders which slump in ressentiment:* to every hair however stray, those shoulders seem to say, Halt!”

    wine maker

  • “I have only ever seen you kempt and all I can think of right now is the photo of you in your party dress which makes your assertation of scruff laughable ..”

    Scruffy

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘kempt’.

Comments

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  • bilby "I dreamt that my hair was kempt. Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it."
    - Ogden Nash Jun 28, 2012

  • yarb I should add that all seemed to take a pride in their personal appearance, and that even the poorest (and none seemed rich) were well kempt and tidy.

    - Samuel Butler, Erewhon Jul 18, 2008

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‘kempt’ has been looked up 1550 times, loved by 1 person, added to 14 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.