tousle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to disorder or dishevel.
The wind tousled our hair.
-
to handle roughly.
noun
-
a disheveled or rumpled mass, especially of hair.
-
a disordered, disheveled, or tangled condition.
verb
-
to tangle, ruffle, or disarrange
-
to treat roughly
noun
-
a disorderly, tangled, or rumpled state
-
a dishevelled or disordered mass, esp of hair
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
touslesimple
-
touslessimple
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have tousledperfect
-
has tousledperfect
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am touslingprogressive
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are touslingprogressive
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is touslingprogressive
-
have been touslingperfect progressive
-
has been touslingperfect progressive
Past
-
tousledsimple
-
had tousledperfect
-
was touslingprogressive
-
were touslingprogressive
-
had been touslingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing tousle
Ender's Game
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Uglies
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"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber
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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:
"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
She pulled off a beanie to reveal a tousle of brown hair.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 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
The man he called Uncle Walt was kind to him and would tousle his hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2018
I knew that tousle was too perfect to be disinterested bedhead.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
The man in this mug shot gets hives if he even thinks about loosening his tie; he passes out if someone tousles his hair.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2023
She’s a brunette with a slight frame who rarely tousles her hair or wears heavy eyeliner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2022
Allen replies with a good-natured laugh and tousles the boy’s blond hair.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2017
He tousles her wild hair, so like Devi's, and says to her, as he has before, "She has a lot of responsibilities, and it's hard for her to think about other things, to relax."
From The Verge ● Aug. 29, 2015
Pa puts his hand on my head and tousles my hair.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Troye Sivan channeled photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in tousled hair and designer jeans.
From Salon ● May 6, 2026
Bardot starred in nearly 50 films including And God Created Woman and Contempt, setting fashion trends with her tousled blonde hair and bold eyeliner, before becoming the model for Marianne, the personified symbol of France.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
There are tousled children in thick wool sweaters and copper pots hanging from the ceiling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
Although she was still honing her skills, her tall, lean beauty, capped with a tousled jazz-age bob, caught Putnam’s attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2025
A guy with a stubbly beard and tousled brown hair slid aside the velvet curtain and walked out, barefoot and in jeans and no shirt.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
“Eighth grade isn’t so bad, is it, Son?” he said, tousling the boy’s hair.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
Unlike oil-drum-style alternatives nearby, some had triangular tops with tiny, circular openings that would deter rummaging and prevent wind from tousling the garbage.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 16, 2021
Then, yes, dude was snubbed, even after going on an apology tour for tousling Donald Trump’s hair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2018
Sunny with a high of 70 and a tousling breeze.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2014
Christina and Will walk toward the dormitories, Christina tousling Will’s hair and Will jabbing her in the ribs.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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.
