gnarly
Americanadjective
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twisted with or as if with gnarls or knots; gnarled.
long and gnarly fingers.
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Slang. distasteful or distressing; offensive; gross.
a comic noted for his gnarly humor.
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Slang. excellent; wonderful.
The live album has some gnarly guitar riffs and sweet bass lines.
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Slang. difficult or dangerous.
the gnarly surf.
adjective
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another word for gnarled
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informal good; great
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slang surfing difficult and dangerous
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of gnarly
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!"
Vocabulary lists containing gnarly
"The Ravine," Vocabulary from the short story
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"The Ravine" by Graham Salisbury
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Butterfly Yellow
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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.
Gnarly winds forced the Weekend 1 set to be canceled entirely.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
Their second EP, Beautiful Chaos, peaked at number two in the US album charts, thanks to the gratingly brilliant lead single, Gnarly, and the Charli XCX-penned follow-up, Gabriella.
From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025
Gnarly as it may look for a time, don’t rush to bid the old plant farewell.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 22, 2023
"Gnarly crash today, but I’m OK," McQuinn wrote.
From Fox News • Jan. 14, 2022
Gnarly old live-oaks spread their branches like a canopy over everything, while the sea-green moss hung from every limb and twig, excluding the light and lazily waving with every vagrant breeze.
From A Texas Matchmaker by Adams, Andy
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.
