Meanings
comparative uncleaner · superlative uncleanest
- Dirty, soiled or foul.
They were gnawing, like beasts, upon unclean food. A pot boiled upon the edge of the fire, and out of it one of the creatures would occasionally drag a hunk of meat with a sharpened stick.
1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 194 - Ritually or ceremonially impure or unfit.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivesoiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime
adjectivehaving a physical or moral blemish so as to make impure according to dietary or ceremonial laws
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishunclǣne
- Middle Englishunclene
- Englishunclean
From Middle English unclene, from Old English unclǣne, equivalent to un- + clean.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀκάθαρτος, ἀκάθαρτος
- ἀκάθαρτος (akáthartos)dirty, soiled or foul
- ἀκάθαρτος (akáthartos)not moral or chaste
- κοινός (koinós)ritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Bulgarian мръсен, неморален
- мръсен (mrăsen)dirty, soiled or foul
- неморален (nemoralen)not moral or chaste
- нечестив (nečestiv)ritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Catalan brut, impur
- brutdirty, soiled or foul
- impurnot moral or chaste
Danish urenlig
- urenligdirty, soiled or foul
Dutch onrein, onrein
- onreindirty, soiled or foul
- onreinnot moral or chaste
- onreinritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Estonian must, räpane
- mustdirty, soiled or foul
- räpanedirty, soiled or foul
- räpanenot moral or chaste
Finnish likainen, epäpuhdas
- likainendirty, soiled or foul
- epäpuhdasdirty, soiled or foul
- likainennot moral or chaste
- saastainenritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
- epäpuhdasritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
French impur, impur
- impurnot moral or chaste
- impurritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
German unrein, unrein
- unreinnot moral or chaste
- unreinritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
- gemeinritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Hebrew טָמֵא
- טָמֵא (tamé)ritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Hungarian tisztátalan
- tisztátalanritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Irish neamhghlan
- neamhghlandirty, soiled or foul
Latin impūrus
- impūrusdirty, soiled or foul
Latvian netīrs, nešķīsts
- netīrsdirty, soiled or foul
- nešķīstsnot moral or chaste
- neķītrsnot moral or chaste
Māori poke, paru
- pokedirty, soiled or foul
- parudirty, soiled or foul
- paruparudirty, soiled or foul
- manihekodirty, soiled or foul
Norwegian Bokmål ureinslig, urenslig
- ureinsligdirty, soiled or foul
- urensligdirty, soiled or foul
Polish nieczysty, nieczysty
- nieczystydirty, soiled or foul
- nieczystynot moral or chaste
- nieczystyritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Portuguese sujo, impuro
- sujodirty, soiled or foul
- impuronot moral or chaste
Romanian murdar, imoral
- murdardirty, soiled or foul
- imoralnot moral or chaste
- necuratnot moral or chaste
Russian нечи́стый, гря́зный
- нечи́стый (nečístyj)dirty, soiled or foul
- гря́зный (grjáznyj)dirty, soiled or foul
- амора́льный (amorálʹnyj)not moral or chaste
- непристо́йный (nepristójnyj)not moral or chaste
- гря́зный (grjáznyj)not moral or chaste
- по́шлый (póšlyj)not moral or chaste
Swahili -chafu, najisi
- -chafuritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
- najisiritually or ceremonially impure or unfit
Swedish smutsig, oren
- smutsigdirty, soiled or foul
- orendirty, soiled or foul
- orennot moral or chaste
- snuskignot moral or chaste
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with unclean
Cite this entry
unclean. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unclean
“unclean.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unclean. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unclean,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unclean.
Source: unclean on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.