Word.ws English Dictionary

knarly

knarly 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

Origin of knarly

From knarl + -y.

Questions about knarly

What is knarly the alternative form of?
Knarly is the alternative form of gnarly.

Words near knarly in the dictionary

  1. Knaresborough
  2. Knaresdale with Kirkhaugh
  3. knarl
  4. knarled
  5. knarls
  6. knarly
  7. knarr
  8. knarred
  9. knarrs
  10. knarry
  11. knars

Source and license

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