English Reference
Adjective

unwashed

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US /ənˈwɑʃt/ UK /ʌnwˈɒʃt/ un·washed

adj.not clean or not washed. It can also describe someone who does not care about their appearance or social rules.

adj.unclean or not having been washed; by extension, describes a person who lacks social polish or conventional grooming standards. Often carries a derogatory or dismissive tone.


SIMPLE

The unwashed clothes are starting to smell.

CONTEXTUAL

He was dismissed from the interview because his unwashed appearance suggested a lack of professionalism.

COMPLEX

The critic dismissed the band as a group of unwashed outsiders, failing to recognize the technical mastery hidden behind their intentionally disheveled aesthetic.

Some brought their unwashed laundry to a protest in the capital in August 2026.

The Conversation· 20 Aug 2026

From Middle English unwasched, unwasschyd, unwessched, a weak verb conjugation of earlier Middle English unwaschen (“unwashen”), equivalent to un- + washed.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Middle English unwaschen
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Occasional
Updated