tousled

UK: /ˈtaʊz^əld/ US: (tou′zəld)

From the verb tousle: (⇒ conjugate)

tousled is: ⓘ

v past

v past p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

tou•sled  (tou′zəld), adj. 

1. disordered or disheveled:
   tousled hair; tousled clothes.

• tousle + -ed² 1840–50

Synonyms

messy, tangled, untidy, rumpled.

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

tou•sle /ˈtaʊzəl, -səl/   v. [~ + object] , -sled, -sling. 

1. to make a little untidy:
   The wind tousled our hair.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

tou•sle  (tou′zəl), v., -sled, -sling, n. 
v.t. 

1. to disorder or dishevel:
   The wind tousled our hair.
2. to handle roughly.

n. 

3. a disheveled or rumpled mass, esp. of hair.
4. a disordered, disheveled, or tangled condition.

Also, touzle.

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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

tousle / ˈtaʊz^əl/ verb (transitive)

1. to tangle, ruffle, or disarrange
2. to treat roughly

noun

1. a disorderly, tangled, or rumpled state
2. a dishevelled or disordered mass, esp of hair

Etymology: 15th Century: from Low German tūsen to shake; related to Old High German zirzūsōn to tear to pieces