as in sloppy
lacking neatness in dress or person
for the sake of their image, the band members transformed themselves from clean-cut lads to slovenly rockers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in sloppily
in a careless or unfashionable manner
an employee who went overboard on dress-down day and was reprimanded for dressing slovenly on the job
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of slovenly
Frank Fellone, Arkansas Online, 2 May 2025
Slough House is headed by the slovenly, flatulent, and frequently intoxicated Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), who routinely heaps verbal abuse on his staff but is nonetheless a brilliant spymaster in his own smelly way.
—Ars Technica, 24 Dec. 2024
Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slovenly
Adjective
Disappointed Steve Dear Steve: The real disappointment comes from slovenly people who throw trash onto our highways, or fail to properly secure their cargo.
—Frank Fellone, Arkansas Online, 2 May 2025
Slough House is headed by the slovenly, flatulent, and frequently intoxicated Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), who routinely heaps verbal abuse on his staff but is nonetheless a brilliant spymaster in his own smelly way.
—Ars Technica, 24 Dec. 2024
Adverb
It’s cropped with puffy sleeves that land at or above the wrist instead of hanging slovenly over your hands.
—Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slovenly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slovenly
Adjective
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The Marlins were sloppy early, committing two fielding errors (by left fielder Stowers and pitcher Anthony Bender).—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
6 May 2026
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Now, that doesn’t excuse Amad’s extremely sloppy pass, straight to Dominik Szoboszlai, who ran through unchecked to score.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
Adverb
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The Giants became the first National League team to seven losses, and although 10 games is not a representative sample, there’s never a good time in a season for a team’s most reliable veterans to play sloppily or make decisions on tilt.—
Andrew Baggarly,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2026
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Miss Manners is at least relieved that your family’s transgressions are limited to eating sloppily, which doesn’t harm others.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Yellowing leaves can indicate overwatering, while wrinkled leaves can point to underwatering.—
Madeline Buiano,
Martha Stewart,
8 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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Of course, there’s a delicate balance between making quick decisions and playing chaotically.—
Jason Beede,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2026
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Wedgewood also plays a little chaotically.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Inside, piles of white fiber extracted from the plants’ leaves awaited combing, destined for everything from handbags to the shaggy chandeliers that have made Damman a rising design star.—
Ingrid Abramovitch,
Architectural Digest,
6 May 2026
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Mix with a fork, adding more ice water by the tablespoonful as needed, just until a shaggy dough comes together.—
Andy Baraghani,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
6 May 2026
Adjective
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Towering at seven feet, with unblinking googly eyes, a shaggy blaze of orange fur and a gloriously unkempt beard, Gritty looks like pure chaos brought to life.—
Samantha Agate,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Apr. 2026
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Clothes that don’t fit well tend to lose their shape, making the rest of your outfit feel unkempt by midday.—
Gabrielle Porcaro,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The expansion of the humanitarian system was untidy and asymmetric, driven by the organizational self-interest of the bigger international NGOs and UN agencies involved in crisis response and their desire for greater market share.—
Time,
Time,
26 Feb. 2026
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An early version of the best dessert in the house was a great-tasting but untidy wet block of orange cake the size of a solitaire deck with a ping-pong scoop of chocolate ice cream.—
Mike Sutter,
San Antonio Express-News,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Pfizer outbid Novo Nordisk for Metsera in a messy M&A fight last year that involved dueling lawsuits and anticompetitive claims.—
Rohan Goswami,
semafor.com,
7 May 2026
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While mixtures of two or three metals were messy and unstable, the five-metal combination paradoxically self-organized into a single, uniform product, streamlining 31 possible chemical outcomes into a single, precise nanocrystal.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Slovenly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slovenly. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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