Slovenly

//ˈslʌv.ən.li// adj, adv

adj, adv ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having an untidy appearance; unkempt.

    "The same marks of indolence appeared in the care of his person; for every part of his dress was generally in disorder; and, though he was well made and handsome, yet his slovenly appearance made him disgustful to every one."

  2. 2
    Dirty, unwashed; disorderly.
  3. 3
    Careless or negligent; sloppy.

    "You say my pamphlet betrays the most slovenly rashness. But where is your proof?"

Adjective
  1. 1
    negligent of neatness especially in dress and person; habitually dirty and unkempt wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In a slovenly manner.

Synonyms

All synonyms
untidycarelessdirtynegligentsloppyunkempt

Example

More examples

"As to his daily life, he is very slovenly."

Etymology

From sloven + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.