dishevel
Americanverb (used with object)
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to let down, as hair, or wear or let hang in loose disorder, as clothing.
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to cause untidiness and disarray in.
The wind disheveled the papers on the desk.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dishevel
First recorded in 1590–1600; back formation from disheveled
Explanation
To dishevel is to mess up slightly, the way a breeze might dishevel your carefully combed hair. This verb is nearly always used to talk about tousling someone's hair or mussing their clothes or bedding. So you might carefully tuck in your sheets and comforter only to watch your puppy jump on the bed and dishevel them. Or you might reach over and dishevel your little brother's curls when he's looking particularly adorable. The adjective disheveled came first, from the Old French descheveler, "disarrange the hair."
Vocabulary lists containing dishevel
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.
See Examples For:
I find it clear and very clarifying, after the innumerable hours I have spent in trying to dishevel him.
From The Letters of William James, Vol. II by William James
Abashed, astounded, the prince retreated a space and looked, with savage intentness, upon the beautiful girl, superb in her denunciation, enchanting in the rebellious dishevel of her hair, the indignant rebuke of her eyes.
From The Flaw in the Sapphire by Charles M. Snyder
With rant and revel My hair I dishevel, And I am the queen of Astrofelle.
From Love Letters of a Violinist and Other Poems by Eric Mackay
Eve dishevel Your hair for the bliss-drenched revel On our primal loam.
From Look! We Have Come Through! by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
Shake down thy hair and dishevel it, so!—that is excellent.
From The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales by Richard Garnett
In July, the eagle was found weak and disheveled on the shoreline of Big Bear Lake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
In thrall to her mission, June rents a dusty, disheveled storage room in town.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Still, with his chest-hugging T-shirt and rugged handsomeness, Mr. Bernthal recalls John Travolta in his early prime rather than the sweaty, disheveled but endearing desperado memorably created by Mr. Pacino.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
The disheveled 58-year-old, who went by Tony, was a cousin of the recently deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
Morning had come, Pearl had slept in, and even when she finally emerged near noon, disheveled and sandy eyed, Mia still hadn’t known what to say.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
In this stylish, morally disheveling work, there might be less of a distinction than you think.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2019
We come, shoe-strings dragging, skirts impeding, wind disheveling, holding on to inappropriate head-gear, feathers awry, victims of old-time convictions, unadapted to modern conditions, amateur marchers, poorly uniformed—but here we come—just count us—here we come!
From The Fifth Wheel A Novel by Olive Higgins Prouty
The incident led to the publication of a first dishevelled mugshot, a savage contrast to thousands of glorious pictures that had celebrated his status as an all-conquering champion.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
His background - a teacher, a football coach, an Army National Guard enlisted soldier - broadcasts "meat-and-potatoes middle America", as does perhaps his balding, rotund, slightly dishevelled appearance.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2024
It is a stream of sequins, flags, face paint and sparkly costumes, all a little more dishevelled than they were when the evening began.
From BBC ● May 14, 2023
During his second stint at the university, Tristram Hunt, the former Labour MP and now head of the V&A Museum, joked that then roommate Mr Kwarteng was "quite ungovernable and dishevelled".
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2022
My cheeks heat up at the thought of her seeing the dishevelled old woman shuffling up our driveway in her slippers.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
That interior was singularly restful, pleasant, after the confused and dishevelling night.
From The Three Black Pennys A Novel by Joseph Hergesheimer
It was an embarras de richesses rarely met with; and in the rich and precious braids the ivory fingers were clutched, dishevelling them, tearing at them, in the excess of pain.
From Dr. Dumany's Wife by Mór Jókai
As they descended the stairs, Lord Pomfret emerged from the library, cramming cigarettes into his case with the dishevelling manipulation of the belated swain.
From Anthony Lyveden by Dornford Yates
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