dishevel

[dih-shev-uhl]

verb (used with object)

disheveled, disheveling , dishevelled, dishevelling .

1. to let down, as hair, or wear or let hang in loose disorder, as clothing.

2. to cause untidiness and disarray in.

   The wind disheveled the papers on the desk.

dishevel

/ dɪˈʃɛvəl /

verb

1. to disarrange (the hair or clothes) of (someone)

Other Word Forms

• dishevelment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dishevel¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; back formation from disheveled

Word History and Origins

Origin of dishevel¹

C15: back formation from _dishevelled

Example Sentences

At a party, she met the owner of a disheveled building in Queens, and asked if she could film there before they renovated it.

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There’s no comedy equivalent of Jean Smart’s hilariously blunt mom in this story; instead, Ingelsby trades that tart energy for a transcendent joy accentuating the disheveled humanity of people who could be any of us.

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Lil Nas X deleted all of his Instagram posts last week, replacing them with a slew of photos and videos from a disheveled apartment.

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He’s a disheveled figure who drives around town in a tattered van and lives above the rare bookstore that he also happens to own.

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His words reveal a man who knows the world sees him differently from the truth of the flawed, disheveled guy staring back at him from the mirror every morning.

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