a slovenly appearance
I'll have to improve my slovenly habits - my mother's coming to stay.
1 messy, dirty, or not careful:
slovenly work
a slovenly housekeeper
Seeing his slovenly and quarrelsome wife's face, he leaves his meal and goes outside.
He proudly, slovenly, defiantly makes his way downstage.
Do these apparently contradictory forms of behaviour mean he is slovenly in his thinking or simply driven by the opportunities of the moment?
The substitution of the glottal stop for the plosives undoubtedly accounts in many cases for the dull pitching of the vowels, which is also a characteristic of the slovenly speaker.
A criticism of the traditional definitions of word classes sows unnecessary confusion by discussing the very man and slovenly me as problems for the adverb class (206).
It invalidates them because it is drawn very vaguely, rather sloppily, and is a bit slovenly.
Slovenly and careless work and quarrels over trifling matters are signs of wrong thinking.
They are slovenly in dress, speech and attitude.
