Musses

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause something to become messy or disordered ; to feel mentally confused or upset
2. Makes an area or object untidy and scattered ; experiences a state of mental disarray or nervousness
3. Disrupts neatness or order in a place or on an object ; undergoes emotional or cognitive confusion

Etymology: "Musses" is the third-person singular present form of "muss," a verb meaning to disorder something, as in tousling hair or rumpling a bed. "Muss" is related to "mess," which likewise came to mean a state of disorder, and the two words share a common ancestry in that sense of confusion. The source offers a second, more colourful possibility: a comparison with Middle English "mus," meaning "mouse." The link would be that mice scurry through and disturb things, though this connection is best treated as a speculative comparison rather than established fact. The more firmly supported path is the one through "mess," so the word's sense of rumpling or disarranging sits comfortably beside that older family of terms.

Synonyms: dishevels, mess up

Antonyms: neaten, tidy