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:
“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
As the world’s biggest fan of Peter Watkins’s twisted and superb “Edvard Munch,” I harbor a soft spot for filmmakers who muss up the perfectly coifed looks and reassuring habits of biographical films.
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2021
The customary thing would be for him to play some uncustomary role in a hit HBO series, or get into a Marvel project or something where he’d have to muss up his hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2021
“Here, love. I hope you won’t be sorry. I won’t hug you and muss your dress.”
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
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
Heidi looks at her cell phone and musses my hair, flicking it this way and that.
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
The Meta boss appeared in a dark suit and gray tie, his signature chestnut curls slightly mussed, darting occasional nervous looks at the jury and the 20-year-old plaintiff, who sat in the courtroom gallery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
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
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
We came in and the bed was mussed.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2022
His hair’s all mussed and he looks up at me.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
“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
Others expressed happiness in a way that a big brother would, figuratively mussing the hair of his younger sibling.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2019
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
Gideon runs his hand through his dark hair, mussing it.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
