uncleanly

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈklɛnli/ UK /ʌnˈklɛnli/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
habitually dirty; in an unclean manner

The kitchen was kept in an uncleanly state.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · habitually dirty; in an... dirty filthyunhygienicslovenly squalid grubby

Opposites

cleanly clean hygienic tidy

Word family

Forms uncleanliness

Derived forms uncleanliness

Related forms unclean clean cleanly cleanliness

Etymology

From un- ('not') + cleanly, from Old English clænlic ('clean, pure'), from clæne ('clean') + -lic ('-ly'). Carries both the adjectival sense 'habitually dirty' and the adverbial 'in an unclean manner'.

un- Old English clænlic Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# uncleanly

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

## Meanings
1. habitually dirty; in an unclean manner

## Examples
- The kitchen was kept in an uncleanly state.

## Synonyms
- dirty
- filthy
- unhygienic
- slovenly
- squalid
- grubby

## Antonyms
- cleanly
- clean
- hygienic
- tidy

## Derived Forms
- uncleanliness

## Related Forms
- unclean
- clean
- cleanly
- cleanliness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: clænlic

## Etymology
From un- ('not') + cleanly, from Old English clænlic ('clean, pure'), from clæne ('clean') + -lic ('-ly'). Carries both the adjectival sense 'habitually dirty' and the adverbial 'in an unclean manner'.

## AI Etymology
Uncleanly comes from un- ('not') + cleanly, from Old English clænlic ('clean, pure'), from clæne ('clean') + -lic ('-ly'). Carries both the adjectival sense 'habitually dirty' and the adverbial 'in an unclean manner'. The historical chain includes Old English un- and Old English clænlic. The quoted older senses, "not", "clean, pure", "clean", "-ly", and "habitually dirty", supply the semantic anchors for uncleanly. The formation is best read as suffixal, compound, and borrowed: the word uncleanly carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "habitually dirty; in an unclean manner". English derivatives include uncleanliness; related English forms include unclean, clean, cleanly, and cleanliness. The result is a adj and adv whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown