UNWASHED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unwashed mean? 

• UNWASHED (adjective)
  The adjective UNWASHED has 2 senses:

1. of or associated with the great masses of people

2. not cleaned with or as if with soap and water

  Familiarity information: UNWASHED used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNWASHED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or associated with the great masses of people

Synonyms:

common; plebeian; unwashed; vulgar

Context example:

the unwashed masses

Similar:

lowborn (of humble birth or origins)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not cleaned with or as if with soap and water

Context example:

a sink full of unwashed dishes

Similar:

dirty; soiled; unclean (soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime)

 Context examples 

I want you to send all your washing back unwashed—understand? —unwashed, and to go out to San Leandro to-morrow, or Haywards, or wherever it is, and see that brother of yours.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The tin dishes were packed away unwashed.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

These viruses spread through the air when people cough, or through physical contact (for example, on unwashed hands).

(Acute Bronchitis, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

He could see only the littered writing-table, the empty space where the type-writer had stood, and the unwashed window-pane.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When driven with his mates to the new owners’ camp, Buck saw a slipshod and slovenly affair, tent half stretched, dishes unwashed, everything in disorder; also, he saw a woman.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)