scrawl

[ skrawl ]

See synonyms for: scrawl scrawled on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to write or draw in a sprawling, awkward manner: He scrawled his name hastily across the blackboard.

verb (used without object)

to write awkwardly, carelessly, or illegibly.

noun

awkward, careless, or illegible handwriting.
something scrawled, as a letter or a note.

Origin of scrawl

1605–15; perhaps to be identified with late Middle English scraule to sprawl, crawl (blend of sprawl and crawl¹)

Other words from scrawl

un·scrawled, adjective
un·scrawl·ing, adjective

Words Nearby scrawl

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use scrawl in a sentence

Artists would use pen names and scrawl them across subway cars, walls, shops, and office buildings.
Catch Him If You Can: Reliving Banksy’s New York Invasion | Alex Suskind | November 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the past, troops would scrawl notes and slap stickers in these last stops before warzones.
How I’ll End the War: The Trip Over to Afghanistan | Nick Willard | April 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I felt the power in my fingernails to brand the earth with my own scrawl.
Making Lincoln Sexy: Jerome Charyn’s Fictional President | Tom LeClair | March 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Around the edges in her own spidery scrawl she would ask how I was.
She Taught Me to Cook—and Called Me a Klutz | Sandra McElwaine | August 6, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
She held it while the trooper bent over the strange scrawl, and ran his eyes along it to learn the context.
The Red Year | Louis Tracy

Reading, thanks to Sebastian's patience, he might make shift with; he could barely scrawl an awkward fist.
God Wills It! | William Stearns Davis
It was a veritable scrawl, madam, running something like this: 'I return your daughter to you.
The Circular Study | Anna Katharine Green
The general will pardon this scrawl; and should he send an express after us, please to let Mrs. Pike know of the opportunity.
The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume II (of 3) | Elliott Coues
Being seated on the ground, 585 and writing on the back of a book, I hope will plead my excuse for this scrawl.
The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume II (of 3) | Elliott Coues

British Dictionary definitions for scrawl

scrawl

/ (skrɔːl) /

verb

to write or draw (signs, words, etc) carelessly or hastily; scribble

noun

careless or scribbled writing, drawing, or marks

Origin of scrawl

C17: perhaps a blend of sprawl and crawl 1

Derived forms of scrawl

scrawler, noun
scrawly, adjective

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

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