scrawl
/skɹɔːl/noun, verb
scrawl is spelled S-C-R-A-W-L: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, scrawl means “Irregular, poor handwriting; especially, such writing that is illegible” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of scrawl is scrawls.
How many letters and syllables are in scrawl?
| Letters | 6: S-C-R-A-W-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,055th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is scrawl?
Scrawl appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scrawl?
- UK /skɹɔːl/
- British /skɹoːl/
- /skɹɔl/
Scrawl has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-scrawl.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with scrawl?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as scrawl from its last stressed vowel (/ɔl/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of scrawl
- scrawls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- scrawling participle, present
- scrawled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scrawl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Irregular, poor handwriting; especially, such writing that is illegible.
- 2
A hastily or carelessly written note etc.
- 3
Writing that lacks literary merit.
- 4
A broken branch of a tree.
- 5
The young of the dog-crab.
verb
- 1
To write something hastily or illegibly.
She scrawled the main points onto her notepad.
- 2
To write in an irregular or illegible manner.
- 3
To write unskilfully and inelegantly.
- 4
To creep; crawl; to move slowly, with difficulty, fearfully, or stealthily.
we will scrape and scrawl, and catch and pull to us all that we may get
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scrawl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | griffonnage, gribouillage , griffonner |
| German | Gekritzel , kritzeln, krakeln, dahin schmieren |
| Portuguese | garrancho, rabisco , rabiscar |
| Spanish | garrapateo , garrapatear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scrawl come from?
Possibly from Middle English scraulen (“to spread out one's limbs; sprawl”), itself an alteration of spraulen (“to sprawl”) or craulen, crawlen (“to crawl”). Alternatively, from scrall, a contraction of scrabble.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).