Word.ws English Dictionary

gnarliest

gnarliest is the superlative 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

Questions about gnarliest

What is gnarliest the superlative form of?
Gnarliest is the superlative form of gnarly.

Words near gnarliest in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gnarliest (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: “gnarliest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gnarliest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.