as in mess
a state in which everything is out of order
careful planning had eliminated most of the muss that usually accompanies a move to a new house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to disrupt
to undo the proper order or arrangement of
the wind mussed up my hair
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of muss
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2021
No other muss or complications.
—Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 8 June 2020
Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 20 Jan. 2025
Pearce, in a magnificent performance, plays him as a kind of citadel—towering yet human-scaled, his immaculate dress and coiffure barely mussed by the occasional burst of temper or spasm of ego.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for muss
Noun
No-fuss, no muss.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2021
No other muss or complications.
—Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 8 June 2020
Verb
The bedhead texture and mussed up fringe give the medium length great shape.
—Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 20 Jan. 2025
Pearce, in a magnificent performance, plays him as a kind of citadel—towering yet human-scaled, his immaculate dress and coiffure barely mussed by the occasional burst of temper or spasm of ego.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for muss
Recent Examples of Synonyms for muss
Noun
-
Watching people getting clobbered with mops, or Stitch making messes and starting fires at the open-air beach resort where Nani works — the funny’s diminished in live-action.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2025
-
This daily upkeep keeps messes manageable and prevents them from accumulating to an overwhelming level.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
21 May 2025
Verb
-
What Could Move The Market? Several factors could disrupt the current market calm: European Tariff Deadline: President Trump has postponed the implementation of a 50% tariff on European Union goods to July 9, 2025.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
-
An extended pause in scheduling student visas could lead to delays that may disrupt college, boarding-school or exchange students’ plans to enroll in summer and fall terms.—
Annie Ma,
Chicago Tribune,
28 May 2025
Noun
-
Whether a dream or not, Devon’s definitely in her own personal hell.—
Caroline Framke,
Vulture,
22 May 2025
-
Voters from the United States to the Netherlands have installed far right-wing, anti-immigration, anti-people governments hell bent on punishing migration via the most inhumane measures imaginable.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
19 May 2025
Verb
-
However, some 3,000 years ago—around the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age—newcomers to the area disturbed the burial site by removing parts of the mound and displacing stones.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
22 May 2025
-
Solar flares can disturb Earth's ionosphere, for instance, briefly disrupting high-frequency radio signals and leading to brief radio blackouts on the daylit side of the planet during the flare event.—
Daisy Dobrijevic,
Space.com,
22 May 2025
Noun
-
Smoke follows a detective (Jurnee Smollett) and an arson investigator (Taron Egerton) who are trying to catch a pair of serial arsonists wreaking fiery havoc across the Pacific Northwest.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
28 May 2025
-
Infusing the trenches with Allen and Hargrave should make for more havoc in one-on-one matchups.—
Alec Lewis,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Verb
-
The team then trained three seals–Nick, Luca, and Miro–to shuffle into place in front of a large screen and showed them the simulations.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
29 May 2025
-
The next generation's most exciting opportunities won't be found in shuffling digital information but in reimagining the physical world.—
Richard Lebovitz,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
Noun
-
In jumbles of old stones that, to me, are barely legible as the remains of buildings, Cocon López could see the entire timeline of old Aké and how later people interacted with and repurposed what came before.—
Lizzie Wade,
Smithsonian Magazine,
23 May 2025
-
Instead, voters themselves are jumbles of competing and sometimes contradictory interests.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Also, this word et cetera at the end of the sentence confused me.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
26 May 2025
-
Weir was confused by the man’s unusual conviction, though.—
Louise Erdrich,
New Yorker,
25 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Muss.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/muss. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share