kempt
/kɛm(p)t/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.74 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
simple past and past participle of kemb.
Example Sentences
- "Faint and in pain he propped his weary head, / And his kempt beard adown his bosom spread."
- "For a moment Boshy thought his senses were playing up with him, for there in the door entrance stood the identical girl—the same turkey-egg complexion, stubby nose, and her red hair only changed from unkempt to kempt."
- "[W]hen maidens vvere to be vvedded, there attended upon them a diſtaffe, dreſſed and trimmed vvith kembed vvooll, as alſo a ſpindle and yearne upon it."
- "The street paving was badly worn, but looked marvelously smooth and kempt to Winterbourne, accustomed to roads worn into deep ruts and reft with shell-holes."
- "He could see her now: middle-aged, gray hair, well kempt, European-looking."
Etymology
Partly from both of the following: * An adjective use of kempt, the past participle of kemb (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) to comb”), from Middle English kemben (“to comb (oneself or someone, or something); to card (wool, etc.); to make (something) elegant or smooth; (figurative) to make (something) gentle”) (compare the past participle forms kempde, kempte), from Old English cemban (“to comb”) from Proto-West Germanic *kambijan (“to comb, kemb”), from Proto-Germanic *kambijaną (“to comb, kemb”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth; row of teeth”), from *ǵembʰ- (“to bite, chomp; to crunch”). * A back-formation from unkempt.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kɛm(p)t/
- British English: /kɛm(p)t/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more kempt (comparative)
most kempt (superlative)