ˈslipˌshäd adjective
Etymology: slip (I) + shod
1.
a. : wearing shoes or slippers that are loose or worn at the heel
b. : down at the heel : shabby
slipshod shoes
a small slipshod girl in a dirty coarse apron — Charles Dickens
2.
a. : careless and informal in style
writes with the fluent slipshod ease of a letter writer — Edinburgh Review
b. : not caring for or observant of exactness : lacking precision : inaccurate
is surprisingly slipshod in his own use of words and his own thought — L.S.Woolf
was at first a slipshod observer … he had a positive distaste for exactitude — D.C.Peattie
c. : marked by indifference or carelessness : slovenly
these are days of fast, careless, slipshod work — E.B.Barrett
his own research is sketchy and frequently slipshod — M.W.Straight
Synonyms:
slovenly , unkempt , disheveled , sloppy : slipshod may imply an acceptance of the shabby, worn out, imperfect, unsound, or inexact that is careless, indifferent, or apathetic
dressed hastily and roughly, in a slipshod way
though facile, he had the conscientious craftsman's contempt for slipshod work — J.D.Spaeth
slovenly is a strong antonym for neat or tidy implying an extreme disorderly carelessness and lazy negligent indifference
a long column — a slovenly column that marched irregularly and out of step — Kenneth Roberts
she had become slovenly at home: she no longer reddened the hearth with pounded brick-dust, she no longer scrubbed the floor boards white and clean. Cobwebs hung in the corners — Lyle Saxon
unkempt implies negligent lack of ordinary care about grooming, smoothing, cleaning, refining, and maintaining
a somewhat dilapidated house, badly in need of a new coat of paint. The garden round it was unkempt and weedy and the gate hung askew — Agatha Christie
abandoned mills, general stores, and unkempt houses, an air of crumbling decadence prevailing in the sidehill settlement — American Guide Series: Vermont
disheveled may suggest the ruffled disorder or disarray brought on by exertion, strenuous exercise, or coping with a series of exigent demands
the white oxen of Clitumnus are loaded with gaudy flowers, and the dancing maidens are disheveled Maenads — J.A.Symonds
sloppy may suggest a careless, loose, or messy abandon
couldn't you even take the trouble to notice that you had a spot of soot on your nose tonight … why are you so sloppy? — Sinclair Lewis