muss
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
musses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
mussed,
past participle, past
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mussing
present participle
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
musssimple
-
mussessimple
-
have mussedperfect
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has mussedperfect
-
am mussingprogressive
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are mussingprogressive
-
is mussingprogressive
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have been mussingperfect progressive
-
has been mussingperfect progressive
Past
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mussedsimple
-
had mussedperfect
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was mussingprogressive
-
were mussingprogressive
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had been mussingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of muss
Explanation
To muss is to mess up. When your grandmother reaches over to muss your hair, she tousles it — you'll have to carefully comb it again before you leave for school. Falling in the mud might make you muss your new jeans, and a strong wind on a boat will muss everyone's hair. While the verb muss means "make untidy," it's almost always used to talk about hair, and occasionally clothing. The word muss has been around since the nineteenth century, and it was probably originally a variation on mess. A muss was once also a term meaning "a fight or disturbance."
Vocabulary lists containing muss
Milkweed
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The Book of Unknown Americans
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Tears of a Tiger
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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:
As always, Lorenzo is more than happy to muss up the expected, to push the boundaries while still respecting the core traditions of the art form.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2025
At one place, you might be able to walk in and out the door with a pet, no muss, no fuss.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
“It’s exactly the effect with none of the muss and fuss,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022
Now that the multiverse has been breached, Marvel’s in a position to easily weave basically all of its recent stories into the MCU no fuss no muss.
From The Verge ● May 19, 2022
She would have given anything if Jon had been here to call her "little sister" and muss her hair.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
It cuts away when wind musses the hair of Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.
From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2019
A low-key vibe pervades the shop—when a young boy musses a pile of garments, he gets nothing more than a beatific smile from the sales staff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2019
Southern humidity has everybody sweating through their shirts, but no perspiration musses Adora’s Veronica Lake waves.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2018
She once read an online comment observing that she has a “short forehead,” and it’s true, though she so frequently musses her impressively thick, straight hair that it’s hard to notice.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 25, 2016
Lourdes musses her filthy hair, trying to blend in with the homeless and not get singled out by police.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
Baker: I can’t shake the image of Colorado defenseman Cale Makar escaping Tuesday’s home opener with nary a mussed hair beneath his helmet.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
He’s so in love with the shoes that he’s reluctant to do anything in them, sitting out a pickup game for fear they’ll get mussed.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
His hair is mussed and he’s wearing wide-leg denim trousers and an ivory babydoll top with a Peter Pan collar.
From Washington Post ● May 24, 2022
And yes, it rains quite a bit, causing the characters to dart about the streets and into doorways, clothes becoming wet and hair becoming mussed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2020
Uncle Phil’s blond hair is mussed, and his blue eyes are bright with mischief.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
“It’s Reege mussing up wrestling manager Freddie Blassie’s hair and getting a chair tossed at him; shadowboxing with Razor Ruddock; weightlifting with Joe Piscopo; jousting with American Gladiators Lace and Gemini.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 25, 2020
He scratched it, mussing his hair even further.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 13, 2020
Mr. Macdonald saw this up close two years ago when his pal Jimmy Fallon was criticized for playfully mussing then-candidate Mr. Trump’s hair on “The Tonight Show.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2018
Nationals reliever Joe Bisenius threw a pitch that made Halladay duck and tumble in the batter's box, mussing his jersey with dirt.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2010
Peeta withdraws from Caesar, pulling back his hands, running them through his hair, mussing his carefully styled blond curls.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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.
