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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This aversion to water can also be justified by their love of a tidy coat, which water can easily dishevel.—
Arick Wierson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Apr. 2025
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Some residences under $5 million embody a level of splendor that defies tidy definitions.—
Spencer Elliott,
Forbes.com,
16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Within seconds, the door was opened by a faceless robot dressed in a beige bodysuit that clung tight to its trim waist and long legs.—
Cade Metz,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2025
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Generous interior space allows tall adults to stretch out in the rear while a large boot, which varies depending on trim level, swallows luggage and prams with ease.—
Matthew MacConnell,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The three-piece suits that fill his closet are all perfectly neat and folded like an untouched rack at Brooks Brothers.—
Sam Cohn,
Baltimore Sun,
10 Apr. 2025
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There’s something quite neat about chasing a 100th title and a 25th slam.—
Tim Ellis,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kempt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kempt. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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