tousled
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of tousled
Explanation
Anything that's tousled is rumpled or disheveled, like your tousled hair when you first get out of bed in the morning. The adjective tousled can be used for anything that's untidy, but you'll usually see it describing a head of hair. Tousled hair is messy, windblown, or otherwise unkempt. The verb tousle came first—today it means "make untidy," but originally to tousle was "to handle or push roughly."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Troye Sivan channeled photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in tousled hair and designer jeans.
From Salon • May 6, 2026
As well as her work in film, Bardot will also be remembered as a fashion icon, with her blonde tousled hair and bold eyeliner setting beauty trends worldwide.
From BBC • Dec. 28, 2025
There are tousled children in thick wool sweaters and copper pots hanging from the ceiling.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
Mr. Brown’s tousled hair and gravelly voice have spoken to working-class voters since he was elected Ohio’s secretary of state in 1982.
From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2024
He had a long clean-shaven face with a sharply-pointed nose and extremely bright eyes and a great tousled mop of gray hair.
From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
