Dishevelled
//dɪˈʃɛvəld// adj, verb
adj, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 simple past and past participle of dishevel form-of, participle, past
Adjective
- 1 With the hair uncombed.
- 2 Disorderly or untidy in appearance. broadly
"The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack utside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks ; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […]"
Adjective
- 1 in disarray; extremely disorderly wordnet
Example
More examples"Mary was sleeping; she was still wearing her torn white dress, and her long black hair, resting in a dishevelled manner upon her shoulders, contrasted strongly with the paleness of her face."
Etymology
From earlier dishevely, from Old French deschevelé (modern French déchevelé and échevelé), from des- (“dis-”), + chevel (“hair”) (modern French cheveu). See there for more details.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.