gnarled
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gnarled¹
- /nɑː(ɹ)ld/
Where it comes from
First attested Shakespeare 1603:
: Thy sharpe and sulpherous bolt Splits the vn-wedgable [unwedgable] and gnarled Oke [oak].
: Measure for Measure, Act II, scene ii, line 116
Variant of knurled, from knurl. By surface analysis, gnarl + -ed, though gnarl is a later back-formation. Popular use by 19th century.
adjective more gnarled · most gnarled
- Knotty and misshapen. Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
- Made rough by age or hard work.
Similar: gnarly
verb
- simple past and past participle of gnarl (Etymology 1)
gnarled²
- /nɑː(ɹ)ld/
Where it comes from
See gnarl (Etymology 2).
verb
- simple past and past participle of gnarl (Etymology 2)
Thesaurus
adjective
Similar: gnarly
Translations
Talk about this word "gnarled." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gnarled. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gnarled. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gnarled "gnarled." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gnarled.Cite this
@misc{gnarled_2026,
title = {gnarled},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gnarled},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
