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tousle

UK/ˈtaʊ.zəl/US/ˈtaʊ.zəl/
verbC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: tousled

To tousle is to make hair untidy by rubbing it. Tousle his hair, tousled hair, a tousled look.

The participle is the commoner form, and tousled hair is a compliment in fashion writing and a complaint from a parent. The gesture of tousling a child's hair is affectionate and rather dated.

Definitions of tousle

  1. 1verbtousleTo make hair untidy by rubbing it.C1

    “The wind tousled his hair as he stood on the deck of the ferry.”

tousle is a ruffling.

Where it comes from

Middle English touselen comes from touse, to handle roughly, with cognates in German dialect.

  1. Middle English

    touselen

  2. English, today

    tousle

From Middle English touselen, equivalent to touse + le. Cognate with German Low German tuseln, bar zusseln, züsseln.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word