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Glite Dictionary
tousled

tousled

5 5.3
Hair that looks messy after sleep or wind
  • adjective
  • /ˈtaʊzəld/
translation icon : despeinado
  • After waking up late, she rushed to get ready, her hair still tousled and messy.
  • tousled hair
  • tousled look
  • tousled curls

This has been my favorite go to little tousled wave with mixing my crimper as well as my regular curling iron.

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Examples

  • Opposite her, in a pressed suit and tousled hair, stood Noah Bulkin.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • She's wearing one of his shirts, and her hair is tousled, but she has on makeup.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • "...and a mop of tousled hair..."

    A Complete Unknown (2024)

  • The gold color is gone; his hair is tousled and natural-looking.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • As he rode, his face grew pink and his short hair acquired a pleasant tousled look.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • His uniform still looks bad, his hair looks tousled, and he walks with a limp.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • When he knocked at the barracks door, it was opened by a man with tousled red hair.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The father had a kind of artistic look, with longish, tousled hair.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • "What do you want?" Judging by her tousled hair and crumpled shift, she'd come straight out of bed.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Phillip took one look at her tousled hair, sleepy eyes, and practical navy terry robe, and smiled.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

disheveled
vstousled
21 6.1

Having messy hair, clothes, or things around them

is similar but often implies a recent, lightly disturbed appearance
unkempt
vstousled
13 5.1

Not neat in appearance, often with messy hair or clothes

is untidy from a short disturbance rather than long neglect
rumpled
vstousled
11 4.2

Not smooth or neat because it has many small creases

is disorderly from being mussed rather than only from wrinkling
untidy
vstousled
11 1.0

Not neat, with things like papers or clothes left around

is messy specifically because it was thrown or disturbed recently
uncombed
vstousled
2 3.0

Hair that looks messy because it has not been brushed

is disorderly due to being tossed, not solely from lack of grooming
ruffly
vstousled
1 7.0

Slightly creased and untidy, often for clothes or bed covers

is more about general disarray caused by rough handling
unbrushed
vstousled
1 5.1

Hair or clothes that look messy because they are not combed

is untidy from being disturbed rather than only from no brushing
frowzled
vstousled
  • Archaic
9.9

Very untidy so hair and clothes look messy

is untidy too but suggests casual disorder from being thrown into place
jumbled
vstousled
3.8

Mixed together in a confused and untidy way

is disorder from being mussed or thrown rather than from mixing items together

Antonyms

neat
144 1.0

Clean and tidy with things in order

tidy
47 1.0

Having things in order with no mess

How Messy

disheveled
21 6.1
messy
233 1.0
tousled
5 5.3
rumpled
11 4.2
neat
144 1.0

Surface Forms

tousled positive

Morphology

tousled = tousle (transparent) = tousle + ed

The adjective is formed by the regular past-participle/adjectival suffix '-ed' on the verb 'tousle', so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Tousled comes from the verb tousle, which means 'mess up' hair, so imagine fingers or wind making hair untidy. A helpful way to remember it is to think of tussle ('a small fight') where things get pushed and become messy, so tousled hair looks like it has been moved around and is not neat.