Word.ws English Dictionary

gnarley

gnarley is the alternative form of gnarly.

Meaning of gnarly

Adjective

gnarly (comparative gnarlier, superlative gnarliest)

  1. Having or characterized by gnarls; gnarled.
    • a gnarly stump
    Synonyms:
    gnarled, knobbly, knobby
  2. (dated, slang) Excellent; attractive.
    • a gnarly dude
    Synonyms:
    awesome
  3. (US, dated, slang) Dangerous; difficult.
    • a gnarly problem
  4. (US, slang) Unpleasant, awful, ugly.
    • We're not talking about a lame chick and a gnarly guy. We're talking about a couple of far-out dudes.1981, Dan Jenkins, Baja Oklahoma, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum Books, ISBN 978-0-689-11173-0; reprinted New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, 1982, ISBN 978-0-671-45163-9, page 269
    1. (US, slang) Of music or a sound: harsh.
      • Near-synonyms: cacophonic, discordant, jarring

Forms of gnarley

comparativemore gnarley
superlativemost gnarley

Origin of gnarley

From gnarl + -ey.

Questions about gnarley

What is gnarley the alternative form of?
Gnarley is the alternative form of gnarly.

Words near gnarley in the dictionary

  1. gnaphosids
  2. gnar
  3. gnarl
  4. gnarled
  5. gnarledly
  6. gnarley
  7. gnarlier
  8. gnarliest
  9. gnarliness
  10. gnarling
  11. gnarlings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gnarley (page history and authors); gnarly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “gnarley.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gnarley. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.