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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 dishevel in a Sentence
Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026
As for the sweatpants, the wide-leg silhouette is roomy but not disheveled, and the drawstring waist is easy to adjust.
—Shea Simmons, PEOPLE, 21 Apr. 2026
Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 12 June 2026
Jennie threw it back to the 90s in a midriff-baring look that elevated disheveled dressing.
—John Monaco, InStyle, 9 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for dishevel
Cite this Entry
“Dishevel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dishevel. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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dishevel
verb
