Scluttish

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Untidy and unkempt in a careless, grubby way, especially in personal habits or housekeeping
2. Having a slovenly, dirty and disorderly character or appearance
3. Marked by sloppiness and neglect of cleanliness, in the manner of a slattern

Etymology: In its earliest recorded uses, "slut" meant a slovenly or untidy person, with no sexual sense. That sense of dirt and carelessness is what this adjective keeps. The origin of "slut" itself is uncertain, and it may be related to older dialect words for a dirty or muddy person. The ending "-ish" is an old English suffix meaning "having the qualities of," as in "churlish" or "boyish." Adding it to "slut" produced an adjective for someone who behaves like a slut in the original, untidy sense: grubby, careless, and unbothered by disorder. The initial "sc-" is a spelling variant, not a separate word, and it appears in a small number of dialect and literary forms. Its exact history is less certain than that of the base word.