shawl
Americannoun
-
shawls
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shawl
First recorded in 1655–65, shawl is from the Persian word shāl
Explanation
A shawl is a wide scarf that's worn across the shoulders. If you're attending a fancy party on a cold night, you might wear a soft shawl over your dress. The word shawl comes from Persian, and is most likely rooted in Sanskrit. This garment first appeared in South Asia, and different regions have varied styles of traditional shawls. Any wide, square piece of fabric that you use to keep warm, cover your head, or even wrap a baby in can be called a shawl.
Vocabulary lists containing shawl
Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 3
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Zara's Rules for Record-Breaking Fun
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Just Right Jillian
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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.
See Examples For:
In a realistic 1870s monument for a member of the Piaggio family, a dead man’s widow, shown leaving the door of a tomb, is wearing an elaborate lace shawl and mourning through her sculpted eyelashes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Tears streamed from the eyes of Uwde Sliman, a 40-year-old Ethiopian draped in a white shawl, as she came out of the church.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
She looked perfectly angelic in an all-white glittery dress, complete with a flowing fur shawl.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
Each dress came accompanied by a matching shawl that Ross would eventually toss to the stage to be retrieved by a waiting assistant who seemed to know precisely when it would happen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2025
When he looks up at her again she is wearing the shawl, tied perfectly, as though it had never been removed.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Residents used shawls and umbrellas to protect themselves in open-air hallways.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Another, Ben Brierley, enlisted his family in making shawls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Other racks hold the matching skirts and pants as well as stylized denim shawls and double-breasted, patchwork coats she made for special occasions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2025
On a chilly December morning, a group of women wrapped in colourful saris, warm shawls and woollen caps huddled outside a three-storey building in a busy neighbourhood in Delhi.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2025
I watched them go down the road, their shawls close around them, looking back apprehensively at us.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
