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muss

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To rumple, tousle or make untidy.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

muhs
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmʌs

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To rumple, tousle or make (something) untidy.

  2. Make messy or untidy

    “The child mussed up my hair.”

noun

  1. A mess (disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; disorder).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To rumple, tousle or make (something) untidy.

Used this way, muss is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use muss

  • “The child mussed up my hair.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

muss das

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: mess (disagreeable mixture or confusion of things

mess

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.