disheveled
adjective
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These days, the adjective disheveled is used to describe almost anything or anyone marked by disorder or disarray. Rumpled clothes, for example, often contribute to a disheveled appearance, as in Colson Whitehead’s novel Crook Manifesto, when the comedian Roscoe Pope walks onstage “disheveled, in wrinkled green corduroy pants.” Apartments, desks, bedsheets, you name it—all can be disheveled when not at their neatest and tidiest. Hair, however, is the most common noun to which disheveled is applied (along with hairdo terms like bun and beard), a fact that makes etymological sense. Disheveled comes from the Middle English adjective discheveled, meaning “bareheaded” or “with disordered hair.” That word is a partial translation of the Anglo-French word deschevelé, a combination of the prefix des- (“dis-“) and chevoil, meaning “hair.”
Examples of disheveled in a Sentence
Liz Goodwin The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 25 May 2026
The attacks paralyzed Davis as authorities searched for a suspect before detaining and arresting a disheveled Dominguez in May, days after the first fatal attack.
—Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 23 May 2026
This helps prevent the overall amount of fabric from overwhelming the body and looking more disheveled than put-together.
—Jessie Quinn, StyleCaster, 11 May 2026
The entrepreneur and modern-day Hestia posted an uncharacteristically disheveled yet predictably glamorous mirror pic on Friday afternoon, showing her mid-hairstyling sesh.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 24 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for disheveled
Cite this Entry
“Disheveled.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disheveled. Accessed 28 May. 2026.
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