How to Use disheveled in a Sentence

disheveled

adjective
  • They looked dirty and disheveled.
  • His wrinkled suit gave him a disheveled appearance.
  • Her brunette hair was piled atop the crown of her head to form a disheveled bun.
    — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 15 Aug. 2023
  • There’s the disheveled man at the gas station who won’t leave.
    — Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 19 Dec. 2017
  • Sitake is still laughing over my son’s goofy smiles and disheveled mop.
    — Christopher Kamrani, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The glass front door of the business was smashed and a desk was found disheveled.
    — Brian Lisik/special To Cleveland.com, cleveland.com, 2 Feb. 2018
  • Raveesh’s body, heavyset and disheveled, on the floor near the kitchen.
    — Katie Worth, WIRED, 19 Apr. 2018
  • His guests, on the other hand, must have bordered on the disheveled.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2020
  • The officer then ordered the man to open the door of the disheveled room.
    — cleveland, 11 Oct. 2022
  • The first panel of the cartoon showed a disheveled man near a lamppost.
    — Quanta Magazine, 18 Aug. 2016
  • Then Hansen pointed out burn marks on the sidewalk that crept up a disheveled tree.
    — oregonlive, 27 Mar. 2021
  • These big birds have a disheveled look, with their long, loose feathers needed for the extreme cold.
    — Val Cunningham Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 9 Feb. 2021
  • At one point, a grubby, disheveled man with bulging eyes walked into the party and sat down among the cops.
    — Erin Patrick O'Connor, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2022
  • Hair was shaggy and disheveled, bangs were side-swept and sweaty, and eyeliner was heavy, smudged and black.
    — Cassidy George, Vogue, 2 June 2022
  • Jasmine returned to the store that evening, looking disheveled.
    — Melissa Chadburn, The New York Review of Books, 27 Aug. 2020
  • The ship’s captain was hesitant to let the disheveled man back into the ocean alone.
    — New York Times, 11 Mar. 2021
  • Petunias, which have become disheveled and leggy, can be pruned back to put out fresh, green growth and new blooms.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2025
  • Add some pizazz by making more tears or use a sanding block to add some more of a disheveled or old look to the clothing.
    — Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 27 Oct. 2023
  • Instead of being tight and pastry-like, this vibe was more artful and disheveled.
    — Hannah Morrill, Allure, 30 June 2017
  • The wild men of later years were merely disheveled and loud, and Breen was unimpressed.
    — David Hill, Harper’s Magazine , 27 Apr. 2022
  • The disheveled man struggled up one of the park's long concrete stairways as the armed phalanx closed in.
    — Chris Barton, latimes.com, 8 May 2018
  • There’s the annual molt, during which even the crows are disheveled and pencil-necked.
    — Murr Brewster, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Sep. 2017
  • The footage showed a messy, disheveled room, with trash, debris and clothes scattered on the floor and draped over furniture.
    — Author: Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Alaska Dispatch News, 27 Sep. 2017
  • When tested with the pet brush, no fibers came up, but the rug did start to look disheveled and the pattern became less distinct.
    — Belle Duchene, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Oct. 2022
  • As is the disheveled shrubbery lodged in a corner of Max Yasgur’s barn.
    — Dominique Browning, New York Times, 29 May 2017
  • The film opens with a disheveled Janet pointing a gun at a mystery person on the other side of the door.
    — Lindsey Bahr, kansascity, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The border guard eyed the disheveled American standing in front of him.
    — Nate Hochman, National Review, 15 Feb. 2022
  • The way the team looked, disheveled and uninspired, ill-equipped and disconnected, often in over their heads.
    — Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 29 Nov. 2020
  • The department says the boy had left the home through a bedroom window was in a disheveled condition.
    — Crimesider Staff, CBS News, 21 Feb. 2018
  • Magnus ran a hand through his disheveled mane of auburn hair, a chaotic halo framing his disbelief.
    — Ben Mezrich, Vanity Fair, 6 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disheveled.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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