How to Use untidy in a Sentence

untidy

adjective
  • I can never find anything in this untidy office.
  • Then trim any untidy hairs that are too curly, or are longer than the rest.
    — Glamour, 10 May 2019
  • In a way, my medium-size bag’s untidy insides were a cry for help.
    — Madeline Fass, Vogue, 28 Mar. 2018
  • The last stronghold for some of Africa's most beleaguered species. As if out of thin air, vultures begin to fall from the sky like a squadron of untidy planes that have all suddenly lost power.
    — Steven Bedard, Discover Magazine, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Kelley’s favorite plant doesn’t look like much, just your standard untidy grass.
    — Joann C Gutin, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
  • Short, skinny and untidy, Deku looks more like a nerdy teenager than a comic book hero.
    — Charles Solomon, latimes.com, 2 July 2018
  • In the living room, a pilot rearranges an untidy study desk.
    — Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2026
  • That same day, Self’s cellmate complained that Self was untidy and asked him to clean up the cell.
    — oregonlive, 10 Apr. 2020
  • Fishback spent the week in a small room with an untidy roommate, according to police records.
    — C.j. Chivers, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2023
  • My classwork was very untidy, and my handwriting was the despair of my teachers.
    — Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2018
  • But the bikes faced vandalism and theft, and were left in untidy piles that city authorities had to deal with.
    — Jane Li, Quartz, 19 June 2019
  • So was the untidy fact that the shooter himself, like most mass murderers, was white himself.
    — Bob Moser, New Republic, 6 Oct. 2017
  • These are just a few of the many untidy and chaotic but oh-so-fun events that are part of this year’s Messy Fest.
    — Alison Stanton, azcentral, 12 Sep. 2019
  • And since this is a McDonagh play, things will become — untidy.
    — Dan Barry, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2020
  • These untidy ends are more provocative than the moments of exposition.
    — Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2023
  • Messy hair, noisy kids and untidy spaces have intruded into our work lives via our screens like never before.
    — Lisa Bennett, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023
  • In addition, the weight of the seed pods tends to eventually pull the plants over and make the planting look more untidy.
    — Dan Gill, NOLA.com, 13 May 2017
  • His son was in his underwear in an untidy room littered with prescription bottles.
    — Time, 8 Dec. 2017
  • The bamboo viscose construction just seems to lend itself to a rumpled, untidy look.
    — Sarah Bradley, Health, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Bad parents of their own extended childhoods, struggling with the second, or third, act of untidy lives.
    — Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024
  • Bad parents of their own extended childhoods, struggling with the second, or third, act of untidy lives.
    — Nick Bowlin, Harper's Magazine, 24 Mar. 2024
  • The video begins with Fran's husband standing in the doorway of an untidy bedroom.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Croatia equalized in the fourth minute with another untidy goal.
    — Gerald Imray, chicagotribune.com, 1 July 2018
  • Not only can this make our homes look untidy, but said dust, dirt, and pet hair can also exacerbate allergies.
    — Sharon Brandwein, Southern Living, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Evans said that Rosendorff appeared at their front door anxious and untidy—his voice was shaky, his shirt was untucked, and his hair uncombed.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 8 Nov. 2022
  • Eagle-eyed social media users had spotted the editing over the untidy suits of the country’s top officials.
    — Arata Yamamoto, NBC News, 7 Oct. 2024
  • As the crowds milled throughout Outside Lands on the festival’s first day, the grass was trampled, but not untidy.
    — Melia Russell, SFChronicle.com, 9 Aug. 2019
  • Putting the ball in play after a long at-bat sparked an inning that finished with four runs, in spite of some untidy Braves’ unraveling.
    — Bryce Millercolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2022
  • In what was an untidy opening, both sides lacked an element of creativity, not dissimilar to the first leg.
    — SI.com, 19 July 2017
  • The iconic prologue – a meticulous mix of jazz, athleticism, violence and grace — is off-point and untidy.
    — Lee Williams | For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 14 Oct. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'untidy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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