dishevel
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to let down, as hair, or wear or let hang in loose disorder, as clothing.
-
to cause untidiness and disarray in.
The wind disheveled the papers on the desk.
verb
Other Word Forms
- dishevelment noun
Etymology
Origin of dishevel
First recorded in 1590–1600; back formation from disheveled
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.
She was pale and thin, and her golden hair was loose and disheveled.
From Literature
A disheveled man sick of endless waiting launched into an eloquent tirade ending with Samuel Beckett -- "You know what happened in the story of Godot? He never came."
From Barron's
I turn around to see Emma running across the yard, her bare feet kicking up grass clippings and her disheveled hair flying in the breeze like a lion’s mane.
From Literature
His hair was a little disheveled, and it looked as if he hadn’t shaved since the night before.
From Literature
But the next day people began arriving in dozens, then in droves, some from Trokorpe and nearby villages, disheveled, distraught, grown men sobbing like babies.
From Literature
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.
