unshaven

U1N1S1H4A1V4E1N1
/ʌnˈʃeɪvən/

adjective

Not having shaved; not shaven; untrimmed.

“The recruit's face was smooth but for a single almost imperceptible hair protruding from his chin. "Unshaven!" screamed the officer.”

Opposite
Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectiveunshaven (not comparable)

alternative unshaved

  1. not comparableNot having shaved; not shaven; untrimmed.

    When Handy had gone, Bert Barricue sagged in, unwashed, unshaven. He sat down stiffly.

    1949, Dorothy M. Johnson, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 106
    2 more examples

    He was an unshaven little man in a threadbare coat like a gaberdine, with his feet in slippers, and I thought him a harmless fool.

    1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 201

    She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had expected to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven, burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.

    1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 2
  2. figurativelynot comparableUnkempt.

    The recruit's face was smooth but for a single almost imperceptible hair protruding from his chin. "Unshaven!" screamed the officer.

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishshaven
  9. Englishunshaven

From un- + shaven.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian небръснат, брадясал
  • небръснат (nebrăsnat)not having shaved
  • брадясал (bradjasal)not having shaved
Czech neoholený
  • neoholenýnot having shaved
Danish ubarberet
  • ubarberetnot having shaved
Finnish ajamaton, ajamatta
  • ajamatonnot having shaved
  • ajamattanot having shaved
  • sänkinennot having shaved
German unrasiert
  • unrasiertnot having shaved
Greek αξύριστος
  • αξύριστος (axýristos)not having shaved
Hungarian borotválatlan, borostás
  • borotválatlannot having shaved
  • borostásnot having shaved
Latin intonsus, irrasus
  • intonsusnot having shaved
  • irrasusnot having shaved
Norwegian Bokmål ubarbert
  • ubarbertnot having shaved
Polish nieogolony
  • nieogolonynot having shaved
Russian небри́тый
  • небри́тый (nebrítyj)not having shaved
Spanish desafeitado
  • desafeitadonot having shaved
Swedish orakad
  • orakadnot having shaved
Ukrainian него́лений, небри́тий
  • него́лений (nehólenyj)not having shaved
  • небри́тий (nebrýtyj)not having shaved

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with unshaven

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

unshaven. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unshaven

MLA

“unshaven.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unshaven. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unshaven,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unshaven.

Source: unshaven on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.