drawl
Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
drawlsimple
-
drawlssimple
-
have drawledperfect
-
has drawledperfect
-
am drawlingprogressive
-
are drawlingprogressive
-
is drawlingprogressive
-
have been drawlingperfect progressive
-
has been drawlingperfect progressive
Past
-
drawledsimple
-
had drawledperfect
-
was drawlingprogressive
-
were drawlingprogressive
-
had been drawlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of drawl
1590–1600; < Dutch or Low German dralen to linger
Explanation
A drawl is a distinctively slow, drawn-out way of talking that's especially common in the U.S. South. A writer might describe a cowboy as speaking in a lazy drawl. A drawl tends to lengthen and extend vowel sounds in particular, so that words like "pet" or "pen" might be pronounced with two syllables, rather than one short one. While the Southern states are best known for inhabitants with drawls, Australian and New Zealand natives are also sometimes said to drawl. The word probably stems from the Dutch dralen, "delay" or "linger."
Vocabulary lists containing drawl
Instead of "Said": Words That Sound Like What They Mean
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But then I hear a Southern drawl in my head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Luiz, a French cab driver ferrying festivalgoers around Cannes, does good impersonations of both a Long Island accent and a Southern drawl, said he loves talking with Americans.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
But when he says it, his Southern drawl is not the only reason that it sounds different.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
Patricia Eddings, an expert in trace evidence, is short, with fiery red hair and a cheery Mississippi drawl.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
“Ole Hammer Head decided to build a bridge from MidPass to Alke,” High John said with a drawl.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
As a public speaker, he drawls out short speeches punctuated with University of Georgia football catchphrases.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2022
"Okay, I've been practicing my longest and loudest scream," drawls Rhian Teesdale in Wet Leg's scathing indie-pop anthem Ur Mum.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2022
“Saaaauce,” he drawls to his wife as he gazes upon his unwitting targets.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 1, 2022
Hunsecker, the voracious, rat-a-tat newspaperman of “Sweet Smell of Success,” who sees a brawl and drawls, “I love this dirty town.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 31, 2021
“And this here house ain’t big enough for the both of us,” Mr. Ramirez drawls in a funny voice.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
"Sorry to the people who were expecting Patchwork," he drawled after the song ended.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2025
Gibbons drawled in the most famous 30-second spot touting Grape-Nuts as the "back-to-nature" cereal.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2023
Over rattling production from super-producer Mike-WiLL Made-It, Trouble drawled his street tales, bringing them to life in the 37-minute short film that accompanied the album.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2022
“I got nothing — n-o-t-h-i-n-g,” he drawled to the reporters waiting outside the Democrats’ closed door lunchroom Thursday as it became clear there would be no Christmas deal.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 16, 2021
“Why don’t you lift him up and put him on the hood of that car?” a corporal standing in back of Yossarian drawled.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
With Richards’s gnarled, withering guitar lines and Jagger drawling and declaiming, there’s no mistaking the band behind “Foreign Tongues.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Platt played up the comedy of the quintessential Jewish outsider in a land of Confederate memorials and drawling manners.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2025
No matter what role he took on in a career that lasted more than five decades, Gambon was always instantly recognizable by the deep and drawling tones of his voice.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 28, 2023
A blunt, drawling, wisecracking, whip-smart former college track star, he is the longest-serving member in the state Senate’s 247-year history.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023
He asked easy, drawling questions about me, his other son, his wife, and he laughed, amused, when I informed him of their destinies.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
