dishevel

C2+ Topic:Clothing & Appearance

Also spelled undishevelled

US /dɪˈʃɛvəl/ UK /dɪˈʃɛvəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to make untidy or disordered, especially hair or clothes

The wind began to dishevel her carefully pinned hair.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make untidy or... touslerumple disorder muss ruffle disarrange tangle

Opposites

tidy smooth groom arrange neaten

Word family

Forms undisheveled

Derived forms disheveleddishevelmentdishevelled

Etymology

Back-formation from disheveled, from Middle English discheveled, from Old French descheveler ('to disarrange the hair'), from des- ('apart') + chevel ('hair'), from Latin capillus ('hair').

descheveler Old French capillus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Clothing & Appearance

External links

# dishevel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈʃɛvəl/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈʃɛvəl/

## Meanings
1. to make untidy or disordered, especially hair or clothes

## Examples
- The wind began to dishevel her carefully pinned hair.

## Synonyms
- tousle
- rumple
- disorder
- muss
- ruffle
- disarrange
- tangle

## Antonyms
- tidy
- smooth
- groom
- arrange
- neaten

## Derived Forms
- disheveled
- dishevelment
- dishevelled

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: descheveler
- Root: capillus

## Etymology
Back-formation from disheveled, from Middle English discheveled, from Old French descheveler ('to disarrange the hair'), from des- ('apart') + chevel ('hair'), from Latin capillus ('hair').

## AI Etymology
Dishevel has the etymological history Back-formation from disheveled, from Middle English discheveled, from Old French descheveler ('to disarrange the hair'), from des- ('apart') + chevel ('hair'), from Latin capillus ('hair'). The ancestry passes through Old French descheveler and Latin capillus. In present use as a verb, it means "to make untidy or disordered, especially hair or clothes", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Derived forms include disheveled, dishevelment, and dishevelled.

## Topics
- Clothing & Appearance

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