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
The Kylie Skin founder winked at the camera and shared a pout before shaking her head from side to side and tousling her hair.
—
Jenny Haward, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for tousle
Jenny Haward, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for tousle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tousle
Verb
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The earthquake disrupted the World Series and damaged the Bay Bridge, Oakland’s Cypress Freeway, and swaths of San Francisco.—
Terry Collins,
USA Today,
8 June 2025
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The cuts will disrupt ongoing research, ruin experiments and datasets, destroy the careers of aspiring scientists, and deter long-term investments at universities across the country.—
Michael T. Nietzel,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
Verb
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The Discovery+ streaming service will be shuffled into the Global Networks company.—
Stephen Battaglio,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2025
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Boys as young as 10 are shuffling around, carrying trays of flour, starch and pistachios — undistracted by this reporting team's presence.—
Fatma Tanis,
NPR,
7 June 2025
Verb
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Many more are disturbed by the politicization of churches and turned off by dogmas that promote hate and discord, finding religious teachings and traditions to be outdated and incompatible with their values.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 June 2025
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Later, her sister-in-law texts her, upset that her children were disturbed by her departure.—
Ashley Vega,
People.com,
11 June 2025
Verb
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The measures are set to take effect on Monday and have left many Haitians confused.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
6 June 2025
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Elections and Certifications Don’t confuse a benefit or B corporation with a B Corp.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tousle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tousle. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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