scrawl

[skrawl]

See more 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.

Origin of scrawl

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

Related formsun·scrawled, adjectiveun·scrawl·ing, adjective

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

Related Words for scrawl

scribble, inscribe, scratch, squiggle, doodle, scrabble

Examples from the Web for scrawl

Contemporary Examples of 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
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

Historical Examples of scrawl

That's Joe's own scrawl, and there ain't a worse from this to himself.
A Day's Ride
Charles James Lever
The senator's son read the scrawl, and his face showed his disgust.
Dave Porter At Bear Camp
Edward Stratemeyer
Then, at last, he had gathered strength enough to scrawl these lines.
Sacrifice
Stephen French Whitman
He preferred to scrawl his initials to any typewritten letter which I prepared.
The Minister of Evil
William Le Queux
You must not mind the badness of my scrawl: and let me hear from you.
Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third
The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos

British Dictionary definitions for scrawl

scrawl

verb

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

noun

careless or scribbled writing, drawing, or marks

Derived Formsscrawler, 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

Word Origin and History for scrawl

1610s, "write or draw untidily," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Middle English scrawlen "spread out the limbs, sprawl" (early 15c.), which possibly is an alteration of sprawlen (see sprawl (v.)) or crawl (v.). Related: Scrawled; scrawling. The noun is recorded from 1690s, from the verb. Meaning "bad handwriting" is from 1710.