gnarled

adjective

ˈnär(-ə)ld 

1

: full of knots or gnarls : knotty

gnarled hands

gnarled olive trees

2

: crabbed in disposition, aspect, or character

a gnarled old veteran

Examples of gnarled in a Sentence

the old man's gnarled fingers

Recent Examples on the Web

As Simeon and Tupe engaged in soothing effleurage and loudly vigorous tapotement, respectively, six Maori women surrounded their tables and sang folk songs in harmony, guided by an elder in the audience with a long, gnarled cane. —Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025

At the top of the hair cylinder a camp of soldiers gather under gnarled and naked trees sprouted from a Charles E. Burchfield painting, curling over ruinous structures, the moon again, full, in the night sky. —Andrew Berardini, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2025

Curving through the gnarled scrub and wind-bent juniper trees, Wildcat Trail loops around the West Mitten formation. —Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Along the Campuhan Ridge Walk, golden light spills across rice paddies like stairways—while mischievous monkeys chatter in the Sacred Forest Sanctuary—swinging past gnarled banyan roots and ancient statues of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god. —Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably alteration of knurled

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1