as in tidy
being clean and in good order
a distinguished-looking gentleman with a kempt beard and an old-world manner
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Recent Examples of kempt
The creeping ivy of rap had crawled over their white picket fences, across their kempt green lawns, and around their Victorian homes, weakening the old walls between cultures.
—
Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
The whole place is well kempt.
—Amanda Walker, al, 15 Aug. 2020
Silence your internal neat freak A well-kempt garden is the toad’s worst enemy.
—Molly Marquand, Good Housekeeping, 16 May 2017
There was a whiff of mystery, a sense that something more was going on behind those well-kempt exteriors.
—Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 9 Feb. 2018
A well-kempt courtyard for visitors conceals the prison’s overcrowding—stuffed to nine times its capacity with up to 250 women sharing a cell.
—National Geographic, 19 Oct. 2016
Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
The whole place is well kempt.
—Amanda Walker, al, 15 Aug. 2020
Silence your internal neat freak A well-kempt garden is the toad’s worst enemy.
—Molly Marquand, Good Housekeeping, 16 May 2017
There was a whiff of mystery, a sense that something more was going on behind those well-kempt exteriors.
—Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 9 Feb. 2018
A well-kempt courtyard for visitors conceals the prison’s overcrowding—stuffed to nine times its capacity with up to 250 women sharing a cell.
—National Geographic, 19 Oct. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kempt
Adjective
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Even the most game-changing of defensive actions look tidy when handled with masterful precision.—
Jeff Rueter,
The Athletic,
23 Jan. 2025
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Though at times the plot can feel a tad tidy, the sight of a few seams doesn’t take away from this funny and poignant, bittersweet and moving — yet never maudlin — debut.—
Isaac Fitzgerald,
New York Times,
15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Her design of O’Toole’s full-length desert robe outfit included gold brocade trim, a long silk shirt (created in London and embroidered with a white silk pattern in Damascus), a fine cream wool keffiyeh with an ivory wool and gilt agal.—
Rhett Bartlett,
The Hollywood Reporter,
12 Jan. 2025
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There are three trim levels – Design, GS and Ultimate.—
James Morris,
Forbes,
28 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The mix of opaque and see-through drawers keeps the closet neat without becoming too orderly.—
Ella Field,
Better Homes & Gardens,
25 Jan. 2025
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Life was not wonderful with Hummels and terrible without — that is far too neat — but the absence of personality is now particularly striking, never more so than during the defeat by Holstein Kiel last week.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
The Athletic,
23 Jan. 2025
Articles Related to kempt
Thesaurus Entries Near kempt
Cite this Entry
“Kempt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kempt. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.
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