tousled, touzled, ppl. a.
(ˈtaʊ-, Sc. ˈtuz(ə)ld)
[f. tousle v. + -ed1.]
Disarranged, dishevelled, tumbled; also shaggy, matted.
| 1848 Dickens Dombey xxv, Rob the Grinder..stood then, panting at the captain, with a flushed and touzled air of bed about him. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. ix, A very heavy mat of sandy hair, in a decidedly tousled condition. 1861 Crt. Life at Naples II. 1 Prudent mammas carried off reluctant daughters, whose touzled dresses, disordered hair, and heavy eyelids bore witness..to the wisdom of the measure. 1890 W. Booth Darkest Eng. 104 A grimy footsore tramp..with filthy shirt and towselled hair. |
b. Comb., as tousled-headed, tousled-looking adjs.
| 1860 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xiii, The touzled-headed man..hadn't got his coat on yet. 1883 Cleland Inchbracken xiii. 105 A damp and touselled-looking youth, who grasped his dripping ‘Tam o' Shanter’ tightly in both hands. |