shawl
Americannoun
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:
Curiously, he was dressed in heavy clothes more suited to winter than a 46C summer day, with a shawl wrapped around his head.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
The Ava Gardner of 1987, in her knitted shawl and high-bridge spectacles, seems to carry no sense of mystery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 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
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
My middle sister, Celia, sat on the wall of the yard, knitting a shawl.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Another, Ben Brierley, enlisted his family in making shawls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
The foreign minister saw the dozens of women wrapped in light, multicoloured shawls and holding children of different ages crossing over on horse-drawn carts.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2025
The cries of infants tied by shawls to their queueing mothers' backs fill the air.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2025
Keep blankets or shawls available for guests in case the temperature drops during the evening.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
They have long hair, long skirts, jeans and overalls, earrings, caps like construction workers’, lavender shawls.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
