gnarly

American  

[nahr-lee] / ˈnɑr li /

adjective

gnarlier, gnarliest

1. twisted with or as if with gnarls or knots; gnarled.

   long and gnarly fingers.

2. Slang. distasteful or distressing; offensive; gross.

   a comic noted for his gnarly humor.

3. Slang. excellent; wonderful.

   The live album has some gnarly guitar riffs and sweet bass lines.

4. Slang. difficult or dangerous.

   the gnarly surf.

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gnarly British  

/ ˈnɑːlɪ /

adjective

1. another word for gnarled

2. informal good; great

3. slang surfing difficult and dangerous

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Other Word Forms

• gnarliness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of gnarly

First recorded in 1820–30; gnarl ¹ + -y ¹

Explanation

Something gnarly is twisted, knotty, or bent, like the gnarly branches of an old apple tree or the gnarly fingers of an elderly person. "Gnarled and knotted" is the original meaning of this adjective, from the Middle English knar, "knob, knot, or mass." Confusingly, though, it's just as commonly used in two other (completely opposite) ways, to mean both "difficult" and "wonderful." In the 1970s, North American surfers adopted gnarly into their slang to describe a huge, dangerous wave. Later it came to mean "awesome," as in: "Listen to this gnarly guitar solo!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gnarly gnarlier gnarliest

Preparing for a gnarly thunderstorm that would probably wipe out our power?

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

The gnarly striker scored the Coppa Italia winner, then the goal that secured Mourinho's side the Scudetto.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

Nor are members choosing to resign instead of waiting for a gnarly Ethics Committee report to drop.

From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026

This is a native landscape of dark and gnarly forms of oak trees, which are numbered in chalk to keep track of their stripping.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

His gnarly hands stuck out of his shirt like gigantic hairless tarantulas, always moving, always searching for someplace to land.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

That was already outdated, and it feels even sillier after the worst day for U.S. stocks in a few years turned out to be an even gnarlier Bitcoin day as a matter of percentage losses.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2024

These intimations of mortality, which I wouldn’t have minded hearing about in even gnarlier detail, suggest cracks in Barbie’s psyche, but also in Barbie Land’s very foundations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

Lyonne, 38, has a weird ability to grow more appealing the gnarlier her character and surroundings get.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 6, 2017

“Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld,” Cobain groused during “Pennyroyal Tea,” one of Nirvana’s gnarlier mood swings.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2016

And so Ms. Hynes is perhaps the ideal person to remind the world about Tom Murphy, the spiritual forebear of this younger, gnarlier cohort.

From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2012

Of course, Boritt had devoted much of that life, as a historian, to picking at one of the gnarliest scabs in American history.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

“In contrast, this year has so much death metal in the basement. This is the gnarliest Barboza we’ve ever had.”

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2024

Quarterback Justin Herbert’s high throw to Mike Williams hit the wide receiver’s hands, but Baltimore’s Marlon Humphrey — one of the gnarliest corners in this N.F.L. — was on the spot to rough up Williams.

From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2021

Birth is the most gnarliest thing of life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2021

Professional surfers live a nomadic, unusual lifestyle; the very best trot across the globe in search of the gnarliest waves.

From Washington Post