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Tousle and Functional Shift
Tousle is a word that has been through what linguists call a "functional shift." That's a fancy way of saying it was originally one part of speech, then gradually came to have an additional function. Tousle started out as a verb back in the 15th century and, after a few centuries of grooming, debuted as a noun referring to a tangled mass (also often used to talk about messy hair), as in “he had a thick tousle of hair.” Etymologists connect tousle to an Old High German word meaning "to pull to pieces."
Synonyms
Examples of tousle in a Sentence
Kara Nesvig, Allure, 4 Sep. 2024
Appleton was in charge of recreating Barrymore’s golden tresses by skillfully applying a wig that was tousled just the right amount.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 6 June 2024
Remy Blumenfeld, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Aug. 2024
Nine men arrested after protest against closing tunnel Nine men were taken into custody by NYPD officers on Monday after a tousle between police and a group of young Hasidic students protesting orders to close the tunnel.
—USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near tousle
Cite this Entry
“Tousle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tousle. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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