tousle

American  

[tou-zuhl] / ˈtaʊ zəl /

Or touzle

verb (used with object)

tousled, tousling

1. to disorder or dishevel.

   The wind tousled our hair.

2. to handle roughly.

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noun

1. a disheveled or rumpled mass, especially of hair.

2. a disordered, disheveled, or tangled condition.

tousle British  

/ ˈtaʊzəl /

verb

1. to tangle, ruffle, or disarrange

2. to treat roughly

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noun

1. a disorderly, tangled, or rumpled state

2. a dishevelled or disordered mass, esp of hair

Etymology

Origin of tousle

1400–50; late Middle English touselen (v.); cognate with Low German tūseln. See touse, -le

Explanation

To tousle is to mess up. The disadvantage of riding in a flashy red convertible is that the wind might tousle your careful hairdo. This old verb with a solid English pedigree has earned the right to only a part-time job after its 600 years of service to the language. Though it means "to make untidy," it's a rare writer these days who applies it to anything but hair — and then usually only by way of the adjective tousled. The origin is Germanic, and tousle is closely related to both tussle and tease.

Example Sentences

Rhandall and John always took a few minutes to grab and tousle Syd.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2025

"You tousle its mane and pull its ears, but all the time you’re thinking, those claws, those claws, those claws."

From BBC • Sep. 14, 2024

With his Little Prince notebook and his 2am tousle, he could still pass for a student, even at 42, with a shelf full of silverware.

From The Guardian • May 10, 2019

There's pride in her sleek figure, the chiseled jawline, those toned legs, that tousle of hair, which she tends to run her hands through as she talks.

From Washington Post • Jun. 2, 2018

She’ll tousle Werner’s hair; she’ll whisper, “They’ll say you’re too little, Werner, that you’re from nowhere, that you shouldn’t dream big. But I believe in you. I think you’ll do something great.”

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr