gnarly

[nahr-lee]

See more synonyms for gnarly on Thesaurus.com

adjective, gnarl·i·er, gnarl·i·est.

gnarled.
Slang. distasteful; distressing; offensive; gross: a comic noted for his gnarly humor.

Origin of gnarly

First recorded in 1820–30; gnarl¹ + -y¹

Related formsgnarl·i·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gnarly

Contemporary Examples

A helicopter hovered overhead, catching every second of the gnarly ride.
Top Five Biggest Surfer Waves (Video)
The Daily Beast
November 14, 2011
Work, especially, sees you getting kinks out of gnarly systems and operations.
Horoscopes: The Week of March 27
Starsky + Cox
March 26, 2011
Charred palm trees loomed over the road like gnarly fingers up through the ground.
My Surreal Return to Iraq
Louise Roug Bokkenheuser
August 21, 2010

Historical Examples

“The gnarly trees, their twisted branches”—recommenced the top boy.
Three Men on the Bummel
Jerome K. Jerome
The latter had been shaved and smoothed over every gnarly place.
The Girls of Central High Aiding the Red Cross
Gertrude W. Morrison
The chance apple tree beside the road, with fruit too gnarly to eat, is common on roadsides throughout New England.
Trees Worth Knowing
Julia Ellen Rogers
In front stands the old brown anvil set upon a gnarly maple block.
Adventures In Friendship
David Grayson
They were twisted and gnarly, and with scarcely the semblance of the full meaty calf such as graces your leg and mine.
Before Adam
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for gnarly

gnarly

adjective

another word for gnarled
NZ informal good; great
surfing slang difficult and dangerous

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gnarly

adj.

1829, "knotted and rugged," from gnarl (see gnarled) + -y (2). Picked up 1970s as surfer slang to describe a dangerous wave; it had spread in teen slang by 1982, where it meant both "excellent" and "disgusting."

gnarly

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}gnarly

Examples from the Web for gnarly

Contemporary Examples

A helicopter hovered overhead, catching every second of the gnarly ride.

Work, especially, sees you getting kinks out of gnarly systems and operations.

Charred palm trees loomed over the road like gnarly fingers up through the ground.

Historical Examples

“The gnarly trees, their twisted branches”—recommenced the top boy.

The latter had been shaved and smoothed over every gnarly place.

The chance apple tree beside the road, with fruit too gnarly to eat, is common on roadsides throughout New England.

In front stands the old brown anvil set upon a gnarly maple block.

They were twisted and gnarly, and with scarcely the semblance of the full meaty calf such as graces your leg and mine.

gnarly

Word Origin and History for gnarly

adj.

Origin of gnarly