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Tousle and Functional Shift
Tousle is a word that has been through what linguists call a "functional shift." That's a fancy way of saying it was originally one part of speech, then gradually came to have an additional function. Tousle started out as a verb back in the 15th century and, after a few centuries of grooming, debuted as a noun referring to a tangled mass (also often used to talk about messy hair), as in “he had a thick tousle of hair.” Etymologists connect tousle to an Old High German word meaning "to pull to pieces."
Synonyms
Examples of tousle in a Sentence
Kara Nesvig, Allure, 4 Sep. 2024
Appleton was in charge of recreating Barrymore’s golden tresses by skillfully applying a wig that was tousled just the right amount.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 6 June 2024
Remy Blumenfeld, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Aug. 2024
Nine men arrested after protest against closing tunnel Nine men were taken into custody by NYPD officers on Monday after a tousle between police and a group of young Hasidic students protesting orders to close the tunnel.
—USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tousle 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tousle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tousle
Cite this Entry
“Tousle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tousle. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
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