Tousle
/ˈtaʊzəl/noun
To make hair or something similar untidy by rough handling or movement.
Did you know?Tousle is tied to a family of old Scandinavian words meaning to pull or tug roughly, so the word itself carries the energy of being physically manhandled into disorder.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*tūsōną
“to pull, drag, or tug roughly”
Old Norse
ON
túsa
“to tug or move about roughly”
Middle English
ME
touslen
“to handle roughly; rumple or disarrange”
16th Century
English
tousle
“to rumple, dishevel, or make untidy”
Modern English
English
tousle
“to make hair or a surface messy or disordered”