To wrinkle, crease, or disorder fabric or clothing; to rumple or muss up something delicate.
From French 'chiffonner' meaning to wrinkle or crumple, derived from 'chiffon' (rag, scrap fabric). The verb describes what happens to delicate fabrics when they're mistreated.
The verb 'chiffonner' comes from the idea that chiffon and fine fabrics crumple easily—the French created a whole verb around how fragile these materials are, which eventually made its way into English fashion and laundry vocabulary.
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