Unmatted

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing hair or fur that is free from tangles or clumps; referring to fibers or threads that have been separated and not entangled; indicating materials restored to a smooth, untangled state
2. Characterizing locks of hair or animal fur that are combed out and no longer knotted; pertaining to textile strands or hairs that are evenly separated without matting; describing surfaces that lack dense, interwoven masses
3. Applied to hair, fur, or fibrous materials that have been disentangled and smoothed; relating to fibers or threads that have been freed from compacted clusters; denoting the absence of matted or felted condition in natural or synthetic strands

Etymology: "Unmatted" is simply the English prefix "un-", meaning "not" or "reversed," attached to "matted." The adjective describes hair, fur, or fibres that have not been compressed into a tangled mass, the opposite of a clump that resists a comb. "Matted" comes from "mat," which in turn traces back to the noun for a woven floor covering. Over time the sense shifted from a flat, woven sheet to a tangled, interlocked mass, as strands of hair or wool become felted together. Combining "un-" with "matted" therefore gives a plain, descriptive word for the state of being free from that tangle.

Synonyms: detangled, combed, brushed out, straightened, fluffed

Antonyms: matted, tangled, knotted, clumped, felted