scrawl

[ skrawl ]

/ skrɔl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR scrawl 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.

Words nearby scrawl

scratching post, scratchplate, scratchproof, scratchy, scraw, scrawl, scrawler, scrawly, scrawny, scrawp, screak

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, adjectiveun·scrawl·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for scrawl

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|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|DAILY BEAST
I am trying to write this scrawl to you on a round milk container in a camp near London.
Villa Elsa|Stuart Henry
I rush to scrawl my name, large, on the tombstone of Kolniyatsch.
And Even Now|Max Beerbohm

But Mr. Cowen's scrawl was crowquill-work and copperplate compared with its next-door neighbour.
Seeing and Hearing|George W. E. Russell
He tells me, furthermore, that you brought my scrawl to him three times to-day for words he himself could hardly make out.
A Tame Surrender, A Story of The Chicago Strike|Charles King
But I bethink me you can say so much and convey my 339 sense of the liberality of our Cousins, without exhibiting this scrawl.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 23 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson

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

Derived forms of scrawl

scrawler, nounscrawly, adjective

Word Origin for scrawl

C17: perhaps a blend of sprawl and crawl 1

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

scrawl

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Words related to scrawl

Words nearby scrawl

Origin of scrawl

OTHER WORDS FROM scrawl

Examples from the Web for scrawl

British Dictionary definitions for scrawl

verb

noun

Derived forms of scrawl

Word Origin for scrawl