# narrow

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈnæɹ.əʊ/ · frequency rank #3,707

## Definitions
1. Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.
2. Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
3. Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude.
4. Contracted; of limited scope; bigoted
5. Having a small margin or degree.
6. Limited as to means; straitened
7. Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
8. Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
9. Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished from wide.
10. Of or supporting only those text characters that can fit into the traditional 8-bit representation.

## Etymology
From Middle English narow, narowe, narewe, narwe, naru, from Old English nearu (“narrow, strait, confined, constricted, not spacious, limited, petty; limited, poor, restricted; oppressive, causing anxiety (of that which restricts free action of body or mind), causing or accompanied by difficulty, hardship, oppressive; oppressed, not having free action; strict, severe”), from Proto-West Germanic *naru, from Proto-Germanic *narwaz (“constricted, narrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ner- (“to turn, bend, twist, constrict”).
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian naar, noar, noor, nåår (“narrow”), Saterland Frisian noar (“narrow”), Dutch naar (“nasty, scary; sickening, unpleasant”), Danish and Swedish nor (“narrow strait”); also Sanskrit नृत् (nṛt, “to dance; act on stage, represent”).

## Easily confused with
- **narrowly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/narrow-vs-narrowly)
- **narrower** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/narrow-vs-narrower)
- **narco** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/narco-vs-narrow)

## Common misspellings (7)
`anrrow`, `narorw`, `narow`, `narroww`, `narrwo`, `nnarrow`, `nrarow`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/narrow