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:
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
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
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
Shake down thy hair and dishevel it, so!—that is excellent.
From The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales by Richard Garnett
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
Found weak and disheveled along the shoreline, the raptor believed to be nest cam star Jackie is receiving care while experts investigate what caused its decline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
But when he opened the door, he looked disheveled, like he had stood up from his desk and run down the hall.
From Salon ● May 27, 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
But moments later, he bursts out of the front office, looking wild-eyed and disheveled.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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
When the security forces went in, they found a dishevelled 69-year-old man who had suffered several strokes.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
On Friday, he flipped his Range Rover on a quiet residential street on Florida's Jupiter Island and the world was treated to another dishevelled mugshot of one of sport's most famous faces.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
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
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
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
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
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