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:
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 Mackay, Eric
“Know you not ’tis rank treason to discrown our sacred Majesty, far more to dishevel or destroy our locks?
From A Reputed Changeling Or Three Seventh Years Two Centuries Ago by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
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 James, William
Shake down thy hair and dishevel it, so!—that is excellent.
From The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales by Garnett, Richard
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 Snyder, Charles M.
She was underweight with disheveled feathers and feet caked with mud.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
In a more than 50-year acting career that spanned movies, stage and TV, Falk’s disheveled Lt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 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
And while it didn’t exactly fly off the shelves, its concurrence with the height of the Seattle grunge music scene made the disheveled aesthetic a street-style must-have.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026
Just then, the rear door of the playhouse flew open, and Nick burst in, disheveled and panting.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
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 Prouty, Olive Higgins
He said that visits by British officials had found his dad was "dishevelled and had lost a lot of weight", while his mum was not walking very well due to prison conditions.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025
He says that John was dishevelled and confused: "He was just abandoned. He hardly went out of that room and it was in a terrible state."
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2025
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
Her blue eyes still retained their melting quality; and her yellow hair, dishevelled by the wind and rain, kinked more stubbornly than ever about her ears and temples.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
Wild-eyed and dishevelled, he seemed to shrink back from the light, and closed the door behind us.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
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 Jókai, Mór
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 Yates, Dornford
That interior was singularly restful, pleasant, after the confused and dishevelling night.
From The Three Black Pennys A Novel by Hergesheimer, Joseph
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.
