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dishevel

[dih-shev-uhl] / dɪˈʃɛv əl /
VERB
mess up
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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I find it clear and very clarifying, after the innumerable hours I have spent in trying to dishevel him.

From The Letters of William James, Vol. II by William James

Eve dishevel Your hair for the bliss-drenched revel On our primal loam.

From Look! We Have Come Through! by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

Shake down thy hair and dishevel it, so!—that is excellent.

From The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales by Richard Garnett

With rant and revel My hair I dishevel, And I am the queen of Astrofelle.

From Love Letters of a Violinist and Other Poems by Eric Mackay

“Know you not ’tis rank treason to discrown our sacred Majesty, far more to dishevel or destroy our locks? 

From A Reputed Changeling Or Three Seventh Years Two Centuries Ago by Charlotte Mary Yonge

In mid-July, Jackie was found weak, disheveled and unable to fly on the north shore of the lake after a scuffle with two younger eagles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

But in mid-July, Jackie was found weak, disheveled and unable to fly on the north shore of the lake following a scuffle with two younger eagles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

The disheveled 58-year-old, who went by Tony, was a cousin of the recently deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026

And while it didn’t exactly fly off the shelves, its concurrence with the height of the Seattle grunge music scene made the disheveled aesthetic a street-style must-have.

From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026

“What’s happened to you?” asked Harry, for Hermione looked distinctly disheveled, rather as though she had just fought her way out of a thicket of Devil’s Snare.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

In this stylish, morally disheveling work, there might be less of a distinction than you think.

From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2019

We come, shoe-strings dragging, skirts impeding, wind disheveling, holding on to inappropriate head-gear, feathers awry, victims of old-time convictions, unadapted to modern conditions, amateur marchers, poorly uniformed—but here we come—just count us—here we come!

From The Fifth Wheel A Novel by Olive Higgins Prouty

On Friday, he flipped his Range Rover on a quiet residential street on Florida's Jupiter Island and the world was treated to another dishevelled mugshot of one of sport's most famous faces.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026

They're dishevelled because they've just got off a bus to Glasgow, ahead of show 82.

From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026

He said that visits by British officials had found his dad was "dishevelled and had lost a lot of weight", while his mum was not walking very well due to prison conditions.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025

He says that John was dishevelled and confused: "He was just abandoned. He hardly went out of that room and it was in a terrible state."

From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2025

Wild-eyed and dishevelled, he seemed to shrink back from the light, and closed the door behind us.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

It was an embarras de richesses rarely met with; and in the rich and precious braids the ivory fingers were clutched, dishevelling them, tearing at them, in the excess of pain.

From Dr. Dumany's Wife by Mór Jókai

That interior was singularly restful, pleasant, after the confused and dishevelling night.

From The Three Black Pennys A Novel by Joseph Hergesheimer

As they descended the stairs, Lord Pomfret emerged from the library, cramming cigarettes into his case with the dishevelling manipulation of the belated swain.

From Anthony Lyveden by Dornford Yates




Vocabulary lists containing dishevel


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