hewn
AmericanOther Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hewn
1300–50; Middle English hewen, past participle of hew
Explanation
Something that's hewn is carved out of wood or another hard material. A hewn rock statue is cut and shaped out of a slab of stone. Your most prized possession could be a hand-hewn chair made by your grandfather, carved with a chisel out of piece of oak. A child who lives in the country might spend hours with a pocket knife making sharply hewn sticks, one after another. Hewn is the past participle of the verb hew, which comes from the Old English root heawan, "to chop, hack, or gash."
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.
But when he got it right, his lyrics had an aphoristic directness that made them seem more hewn than written.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Its throwing arm, currently at 12 o’clock, weighs 360 pounds and is not hewn or sanded; knots are visible in the wood.
From Slate • Jul. 7, 2025
Imagine running your fingers over the jagged grey marble from which two gladiatrices were hewn thousands of years ago.
From Salon • Nov. 26, 2024
Other kinds of complex technologies also developed in the Middle Pleistocene, including wooden structures constructed with logs hewn using hafted tools, which are stone blades affixed to wooden or bone handles.
From Science Daily • Jun. 17, 2024
Ser Gregor Clegane's face might have been hewn from rock.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
