- past participle of draw.
drawn
Americanverb
adjective
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tense; haggard.
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eviscerated, as a fowl.
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Glassmaking.
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of or relating to the stem of a drinking glass that has been formed by stretching from a small mass of molten metal left at the base of the bowl of the vessel.
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of or relating to glass that is drawn over a series of rollers as it comes from the furnace.
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adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of drawn
First recorded in 1150–1200, for the adjective
Explanation
Drawn describes the look of someone who is tired, overworked, or ill. People will worry about you if your face looks drawn every morning because you stay up so late doing homework. The adjective drawn comes from the Old English verb dragan, which means to pull or to drag. Dragan is also the root for the artistic sense of the verb "draw," but drawn doesn't describe art. It can mean pulled closed, however. The drawn drapes keep your room so dark that it's always dark as night in there, which is good for sleeping, but bad when you have to get up early for school.
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.
They chose a castle near Edinburgh, and were drawn not only by the scenery but also by the sense of history they felt was harder to find back home.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
He seemed more drawn to the model with doors and a heater.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Documentary writer and director Travis Gutiérrez Senger came across press coverage of the retrospective and felt immediately drawn to the group, connected “on almost a cellular level.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
Reconsider R-Patz: Robert Pattinson was derided for his performance in the Twilight movies, but in recent years, he has drawn comparisons to Brad Pitt.
From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2026
I could offer to draw the curtains but I know she’s speaking in euphemisms; no amount of drawn curtains could make my room presentable for the subscribers to Bell System.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
