Meanings
- not comparableNot having been washed.
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 1061 more example
I say that the eyass should have her meat unwashed, until she becomes a brancher—’twere the ready way to give her the frounce, to wash her meat sooner, and so knows every one who knows a gled from a falcon.
1820, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 85Synonyms: unwashen
- not comparableVulgar, plebeian, lowbrow.
“Yeah, wading down into the comments. "Winsomely compelling cop-aganda," says C-Rob-69. Oh, wait, that was me.” “Drivel for the unwashed. The Bard, how he weeps.”
2024 November 25, Max Brockman, “P.I. Undercover: New York” (1:41 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 6, episode 8, spoken by Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch)1 more example
Gannon is looked upon with distrust by a good many members of the Citizens’ Committee—or perhaps it is with jealousy. He remains, however, a hero to the unwashed elements.
1958, Oakley Hall, Warlock
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot having been washed.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishunwaschen“unwashen”
- Middle Englishunwasched
- Englishunwashed
From Middle English unwasched, unwasschyd, unwessched, a weak verb conjugation of earlier Middle English unwaschen (“unwashen”), equivalent to un- + washed.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄνιπτος, ἄπλυτος
- ἄνιπτος (ániptos)not washed
- ἄπλυτος (áplutos)not washed
Danish uvasket
- uvasketnot washed
Dutch ongewassen
- ongewassennot washed
German ungewaschen
- ungewaschennot washed
Greek άνιφτος
- άνιφτος (ániftos)not washed
Hindi अनधोया
- अनधोया (andhoyā)not washed
Norwegian Bokmål uvasket
- uvasketnot washed
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with unwashed
All rhymes →Cite this entry
unwashed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwashed
“unwashed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwashed. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unwashed,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unwashed.
Source: unwashed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.