What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Dishevelled vs Messy - What's the difference?

dishevelled | messy |

Messy is a synonym of dishevelled.



As adjectives the difference between dishevelled and messy

is that dishevelled is of a person With the hair uncombed while messy is in a disorderly state; chaotic; disorderly.

As a verb dishevelled

is past tense of dishevel.

dishevelled

English

Alternative forms

* disheveled

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (of a person) With the hair uncombed.
  • (by extension) Disorderly or untidy in appearance.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
  • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=6 citation , passage=The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks?; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […]}}

    Synonyms

    * messy, unkempt, untidy

    Verb

    (head)
  • (dishevel)
  • See also

    * unkempt

    messy

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • In a disorderly state; chaotic; disorderly.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory.}}
  • (of a person) Prone to causing mess.
  • (of a situation) Difficult or unpleasant to deal with.
  • Synonyms

    (in a disorderly state) untidy, chaotic, disorderly, cluttered

    Antonyms

    * neat * orderly

    Derived terms

    * messily * messiness

    Descendants

    * German: (l)