shawl
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Cloak made up of an oblong piece of cloth used to cover the head and shoulders.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shawlIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃɔl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Cloak consisting of an oblong piece of cloth used to cover the head and shoulders
A square or rectangular piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders, typically by women.
A fold of wrinkled flesh under the lips and neck of a bloodhound, used in scenting.
verb
transitive
To wrap in a shawl.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Cloak consisting of an oblong piece of cloth used to cover the head and shoulders
Used this way, shawl is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A shawl with a ritually knotted fringe at each corner.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.