as in to disrupt
to undo the proper order or arrangement of
his grandfather would always tousle the boy's neatly combed hair
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Recent Examples of tousle
To round out all the looks, model Precious Lee wore her hair tousled into an updo, with just a touch of lip gloss to end the week.
—
India Espy-Jones, Essence, 2 Feb. 2024
The waves weren't precise or uniform in shape, but rather looked as though they'd been styled with a three-barrel iron, then roughed up and tousled for an undone finish.
—Kara Nesvig, Allure, 25 Jan. 2024
For that morning’s scene, her light-auburn hair had been artfully curled and tousled by her longtime hairdresser, Frédéric Souquet.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2023
Both the royal and the presidential couples appeared to struggle with a strong wind, which tousled Macron’s hair and forced Camilla to hold on tightly to her pink, beret-style hat.
—Sylvie Corbet, Fortune, 20 Sep. 2023
See All Example Sentences for tousle
India Espy-Jones, Essence, 2 Feb. 2024
The waves weren't precise or uniform in shape, but rather looked as though they'd been styled with a three-barrel iron, then roughed up and tousled for an undone finish.
—Kara Nesvig, Allure, 25 Jan. 2024
For that morning’s scene, her light-auburn hair had been artfully curled and tousled by her longtime hairdresser, Frédéric Souquet.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2023
Both the royal and the presidential couples appeared to struggle with a strong wind, which tousled Macron’s hair and forced Camilla to hold on tightly to her pink, beret-style hat.
—Sylvie Corbet, Fortune, 20 Sep. 2023
See All Example Sentences for tousle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tousle
Verb
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DDoS Threats Cybercriminals threaten Distributed Denial of Service attacks to disrupt personal websites unless payment is made.—
Alex Vakulov,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
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Yes, but: A much more straightforward way to disrupt the vaccine market would be to simply cancel government contracts with manufacturers.—
Caitlin Owens,
Axios,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Instead, tattooed servers shuffle around under dim lighting to a Phoebe Bridgers soundtrack.—
Lisa Cericola,
Southern Living,
29 Mar. 2025
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Under moonlight, the six men shuffled to the village church.—
Prianka Srinivasan Matthew Abbott,
New York Times,
26 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The Indian Ocean is visible through the gardens’ palms, but beach access from the villas is purposefully obstructed—the resort’s way of making sure not to disturb the nearly 300 sea turtle nests lining the shore.—
Jennifer Flowers,
AFAR Media,
3 Apr. 2025
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The medical team wheels the body out of the cabin under a curtain on a room service trolley so as not to disturb the passengers, then uses the flower shop walk-in freezer as a morgue.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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No one was going to confuse Colossal with the Sierra Club.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
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Let go of a common misconception Some parents worry that teaching their child multiple languages will set them back or confuse them.—
Julia Furlan,
NPR,
5 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tousle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tousle. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
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