as in disrupting
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 tousling
The result appeared toward the end of the post, which included a photo of Stamos checking out his new look and a video of Capri tousling his hair.
—
Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tousling
Verb
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The beams would be far brighter than the full moon and, even if carefully pointed, would scatter in the atmosphere to be very bright off-beam, disrupting wildlife and effectively destroying the sky’s remaining natural beauty by erasing the stars from our sight.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
6 Mar. 2026
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Then, last summer, LA became the first major US city to face large-scale ICE raids, stoking fear among undocumented immigrants and disrupting the restaurant workforce.—
Emily Wilson,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The shuffling sound quickened and the puzzlers’ hands sped up.—
Lia Picard,
AJC.com,
2 Mar. 2026
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Some line shuffling by Warsofsky worked.—
Curtis Pashelka,
Mercury News,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But the notice sent last spring was so vague and confusing that few people used it to object.—
U T Editorial Board,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Mar. 2026
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The company’s messaging has been confusing and has at various points seemed to contradict its own previous statements, as well as information from the government.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Shuttle buses often pause to allow passengers to observe animals without disturbing them.—
Karthika Gupta,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Mar. 2026
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According to investigators, multiple officers were called to the gas station after reports of an intoxicated man who was disturbing customers.—
Dan Raby,
CBS News,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tousling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tousling. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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