Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Tidy; trim.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A past participle of kemb.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • p. p. of kemb; combed.
  • Neatly kept; tidy. Opposite of unkempt.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective neat and tidy; especially used of hair

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective (of hair) neat and tidy

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from unkempt.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Originally a past participle of Old English cemban ("to comb"). Modern uses are back-formations from the negative unkempt.

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Examples

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

    Suburban Home Sinks into the Pacific Matthew J. Robinson 2011

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

    The Velvet Reformation 2009

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

    Uprising Margaret Peterson Haddix 2011

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

    Uprising Margaret Peterson Haddix 2011

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

    Uprising Margaret Peterson Haddix 2011

  • 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 2010

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

    The Velvet Reformation 2009

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

    The Velvet Reformation 2009

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

    Uprising Margaret Peterson Haddix 2011

  • 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.

    Brock Cohen: Welcome to Bubble Boy Nation 2010

Comments

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  • 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

    July 18, 2008

  • "I dreamt that my hair was kempt. Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it."

    - Ogden Nash

    June 28, 2012