unclean

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈklin/ UK /ʌnˈkliːn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
dirty; morally or ritually impure

The well water was unclean and unsafe to drink.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · dirty; morally or ritually... dirty filthy soiled impure foul defiled tainted

Opposites

clean pure spotless sanitary

Word family

Forms uncleanness

Derived forms uncleannessuncleanly uncleanliness

Related forms clean cleanly cleanliness

Etymology

From Old English unclæne ('unclean, impure'), from un- ('not') + clæne ('clean, pure'), from Proto-West-Germanic *klaini ('clear, pure, fine'), of uncertain further origin.

unclæne Old English clæne Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# unclean

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ʌnˈklin/
**IPA (UK):** /ʌnˈkliːn/

## Meanings
1. dirty; morally or ritually impure

## Examples
- The well water was unclean and unsafe to drink.

## Synonyms
- dirty
- filthy
- soiled
- impure
- foul
- defiled
- tainted

## Antonyms
- clean
- pure
- spotless
- sanitary

## Derived Forms
- uncleanness
- uncleanly
- uncleanliness

## Related Forms
- clean
- cleanly
- cleanliness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: unclæne
- Root: clæne

## Etymology
From Old English unclæne ('unclean, impure'), from un- ('not') + clæne ('clean, pure'), from Proto-West-Germanic *klaini ('clear, pure, fine'), of uncertain further origin.

## AI Etymology
Unclean comes from Old English unclæne ('unclean, impure'), from un- ('not') + clæne ('clean, pure'), from Proto-West-Germanic *klaini ('clear, pure, fine'), of uncertain further origin. The historical chain includes Old English unclæne and Old English clæne. The quoted older senses, "unclean, impure", "not", "clean, pure", and "clear, pure, fine", supply the semantic anchors for unclean. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word unclean carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "dirty; morally or ritually impure". English derivatives include uncleanness, uncleanly, and uncleanliness; related English forms include clean, cleanly, and cleanliness. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown