gnarled

[ nahrld ]

adjective

1. (of trees) full of or covered with gnarls; bent; twisted.
2. having a rugged, weather-beaten appearance:

   a gnarled old sea captain.

3. crabby; cantankerous.

gnarled

/ nɑːld /

adjective

1. having gnarls
2. (esp of hands) rough, twisted, and weather-beaten in appearance
3. perverse or ill-tempered

Other Words From

• un·gnarled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gnarled¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; variant of knurled

Example Sentences

Russell Wilson’s middle finger on his right hand was gnarled after he appeared to hit it on the Rams’ Aaron Donald on a throw.

From Washington Post

Wilson had the middle finger of his right hand gnarled when he appeared to hit his hand on Los Angeles Rams defensive star Aaron Donald on a third-quarter throw.

From Washington Post

Due to the harsh environment, both trails are lined with twisted and gnarled trees.

From Washington Post

Proceeding through the door you find yourself in the Grove of Spirits, a place of gnarled, leafless trees and muted daylight.

From Washington Post

A massive tree encountered on a trip to Peru inspired another piece, a 3-D-printed sculpture of the organism’s gnarled root structure.

From Washington Post

I was taken into one by Maurice, a gnarled old Vietnam vet in a wooly hat.

From The Daily Beast

Hard-caught game gets something feral and gnarled—Côte-Rôtie or a leathery Hermitage.

From The Daily Beast

What was distinct as the visitors turned away from the inscribed edges of the pools was the lone gnarled tree.

From The Daily Beast

The knots were so plentiful that the thread stood up like a gnarled flagpole.

From The Daily Beast

The young who are not gnarled and knocked around by the old fights are tired of the overtones of special pleading.

From The Daily Beast

The gnarled hands shut up into clenched fists, and the feeble voice trailed off in an agonized moan.

From Project Gutenberg

The Dark One threw down the mountains, gnarled the forests, and bent the rivers which his brother had made.

From Project Gutenberg

You can really trim an old apple tree into a thing of gnarled power and quaint charm by a little care.

From Project Gutenberg

They sat on the turf, with a gnarled old apple tree rustling above them.

From Project Gutenberg

She saw before her two bright-coloured hammocks fastened to the gnarled trunks of some orange-trees.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• contorted
• crooked
• deformed
• gnarly
• twisted
• wrinkled