muss

[muhs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR muss ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a state of disorder or untidiness.

verb (used with object)

to put into disorder; make messy; rumple (often followed by up).

Origin of muss

1820–30; perhaps blend of mess and fuss

Synonyms for muss

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR muss ON THESAURUS.COM

2. mess, disturb, tangle, bedraggle.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for muss

turmoil, hash, mess, confusion, chaos, muddle, shambles, mix-up, mess-up, rummage, disturb, disarray, ruffle, disorganize, rumple, upset, wrinkle, clutter, tousle, jumble

Examples from the Web for muss

Contemporary Examples of muss

Not a lot of fuss and muss here, just good taste and great songs.
The Best Music Blogs
Howard Wolfson
January 26, 2014

Historical Examples of muss

For one thing Fred sha'n't get into that kind of muss if I can save him from it.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Even to keep an open mind himself to all the muss and mummery of the Church!
The Woman Thou Gavest Me
Hall Caine
It was some jay that stirred up all the muss, howlin' for his coin that he thought he'd lost.
Torchy
Sewell Ford
It will muss up reception some, but it will probably be better than direct, at that.
Spacehounds of IPC
Edward Elmer Smith
"It'll be a relief for most folks not to have the muss and the clutter," said Ellen's mother.
Christmas
Zona Gale

British Dictionary definitions for muss

muss

verb

(tr often foll by up) to make untidy; rumple

noun

a state of disorder; muddle

Word Origin for muss

C19: probably a blend of mess + fuss

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for muss

"to make untidy," 1837, probably a variant of mess in its sense of "disorder." Earlier (1830) as a noun meaning "disturbance." Related: Mussed; mussing.