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Synonyms

rumple

American  
[ruhm-puhl] / ˈrʌm pəl /

verb (used with object)

rumpled, rumpling

  1. to crumple or crush into wrinkles.

    to rumple a sheet of paper.
    Synonyms:
    muss, crease, wrinkle

  2. to ruffle; tousle (sometimes followed byup ).

    The wind rumpled her hair.

verb (used without object)

rumpled, rumpling

  1. to become wrinkled or crumpled.

    Tissue rumples easily.

noun

  1. a wrinkle or irregular fold; crease.

rumple British  
/ ˈrʌmpəl /

verb

  1. to make or become wrinkled, crumpled, ruffled, or dishevelled

"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

noun

  1. a wrinkle, fold, or crease

"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

Other Word Forms

  • rumply adjective
  • unrumpled adjective

Etymology

Origin of rumple

1595–1605; < Dutch rompelen (v.), rompel (noun)

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.

“One cannot just rush from one’s home looking shabby, rumpled, and unkempt,” Handsome would likely say to Duane.

From Literature

It might have acquired a crack in that mighty windshield by then, a rumpled bumper, a dent in the door, mismatched mudders.

From The Wall Street Journal

That way she couldn’t reach out and rumple his hair.

From Literature

It was a heady trophy for a 13-year-old, presented to me at graduation by a rumpled legionnaire in a garrison cap decorated with military pins.

From The Wall Street Journal

His hair was slicked back, and he was dressed like he intended to go to the show, in a vintage-cut, slightly rumpled suit, his suspenders exposed.

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.