MEANING
To write or draw quickly and carelessly, producing uneven or hard-to-read marks.
Use it for
Show rushed, untidy writing or drawing.The verb makes a note’s urgency or the writer’s agitation visible in its marks.
Words that belong together
- scrawl a note
- scrawl across a wall
- hurried scrawl
On the page
He scrawled the address on a damp envelope before the bus arrived.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- scrawl
- Past tense
- scrawled
- Past participle
- scrawled
- Present participle
- scrawling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- scrawl
- Present continuous
- am/is/are scrawling
- Present perfect
- have/has scrawled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been scrawling
- Past
- scrawled
- Past continuous
- was/were scrawling
- Past perfect
- had scrawled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been scrawling
- Future
- will scrawl
- Future continuous
- will be scrawling
- Future perfect
- will have scrawled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been scrawling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
The verb emphasizes speed and untidy marks; it may describe writing or a rough drawing.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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