Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Untidy, as in dress or appearance.
- adjective Marked by negligence; careless or slipshod: synonym: sloppy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In a slovenly manner; negligently; carelessly.
- Having the habits of a sloven; negligent of dress or neatness; lazy; negligent: of persons: as, a slovenly man.
- Wanting neatness or tidiness; loose; negligent; careless: of things: as, a slovenly dress.
- Synonyms Untidy, dowdy, heedless, careless.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having the habits of a sloven; negligent of neatness and order, especially in dress.
- adjective Characteristic of a sloven; lacking neatness and order; evincing negligence.
- adverb a slovenly manner.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Having an
untidy appearance;unkempt . - adjective
Careless ornegligent ;sloppy . - adjective Unwashed, dirty, disorderly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective negligent of neatness especially in dress and person; habitually dirty and unkempt
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Nothing is more adverse to legal study than what may be called the slovenly habit of mind which is sometimes found even in intelligent people — the habit of mind which knows nothing correctly, which remembers nothing distinctly, which cannot be depended on to state a fact truly, or to carry a point from one case to another.
Sermons on Faith and Doctrine by the Late Benjamin Jowett, M.A., Master of Balliol College 1817-1893 1901
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Even in the greatest stress of emotion the power of self-control must never be lost; you must never allow yourself to sing in a slovenly, that is, in a heedless, way, or to exceed your powers, or even to reach their extreme limit.
How to Sing [Meine Gesangskunst] Lilli Lehmann 1888
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A crack for a penknife, the waste of 'six-and-thirty shillings,' 'the loss of a day or a tide,' in each of these he saw and was revolted by the finger of the sloven; and to spirits intense as his, and immersed in vital undertakings, the slovenly is the dishonest, and wasted time is instantly translated into lives endangered.
Records of a Family of Engineers Robert Louis Stevenson 1872
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‘the loss of a day or a tide,’ in each of these he saw and was revolted by the finger of the sloven; and to spirits intense as his, and immersed in vital undertakings, the slovenly is the dishonest, and wasted time is instantly translated into lives endangered.
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If you hunt on public land and are not covered in the latest Mossy Oak garb and stainless steel weaponry from head to toe, you're looked on as some kind of slovenly hillbilly, unworthy to even be in the field let alone shoot anything.
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If you hunt on public land and are not covered in the latest Mossy Oak garb and stainless steel weaponry from head to toe, you're looked on as some kind of slovenly hillbilly, unworthy to even be in the field let alone shoot anything.
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I was thinking of Mr. Unfunny today before this email convo went down and my exact though of him was that he is "slovenly".
wilberteets Diary Entry wilberteets 2008
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When my only slightly adapted version turned out to be delicious, but kind of slovenly looking, I went back to the magazine article to check on what the professional ones looked like.
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When my only slightly adapted version turned out to be delicious, but kind of slovenly looking, I went back to the magazine article to check on what the professional ones looked like.
Toast: Lindy 2005
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Speakers expressed concern over the lack of security in the operation of their businesses and criticised the "slovenly" manner in which the police dealt with crime reported by the business community.
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