snarl
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
snahrlIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsnɑɹl
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.
verb
intransitive
To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds.
transitive
To complain angrily; to utter growlingly.
intransitive
To speak crossly; to talk in rude, surly terms.
transitive
To place in an embarrassing situation; to ensnare; to make overly complicated.
transitiveintransitive
To be congested in traffic, or to make traffic congested.
To form raised work upon the outer surface of (thin metal ware) by the repercussion of a snarling iron upon the inner surface; to repoussé
noun
The act of snarling; a growl; a surly or peevish expression; an angry contention.
A vicious angry growl
A growl, for example that of an angry or surly dog, or similar; grumbling sounds.
A slow-moving traffic jam.
An intricate complication; a problematic difficulty; a knotty or tangled situation.
A knot or complication of hair, thread, or the like, difficult to disentangle.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To growl angrily by gnashing or baring the teeth; to gnarl; to utter grumbling sounds.
Used this way, snarl 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
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- 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 number of vehicles blocking one another until they can scarcely move.
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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.