adjective neatly or tidily kept: a kempt little cottage. combed, as hair. adjective (of hair) tidy; combedSee also unkempt adj."well-combed, neat," late 14c., from past tense of dialectal kemb, from Old English cemdan (see unkempt). A rare word after c.1500; any modern use probably is a whimsical back-formation from unkempt.