drawling

verb

present participle of drawl
as in speaking
to speak slowly with vowel sounds that are longer than usual He drawled his name in a Southern accent.

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of drawling His drawling, winking charm is front and center, and his attraction to our heroine feels both genuine and even quite protective, but his violent streak is so blasé as to be unnerving. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 7 June 2026 Daniel Craig stars as Benoit Blanc, a Southern-drawling Hercule Poirot-style private detective who helps a wealthy family uncover the truth behind the death of their beloved patriarch (Christopher Plummer). — Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for drawling
  1. speaking
  2. shouting
  3. uttering
  4. saying
  5. whispering
  6. sounding
Verb
  • However, speaking to the media on Friday after playing a key role in the appointment of Stokes’ and McCullum’s successors, Joe Root and Stephen Fleming, Key did not rule out the possibility of Stokes returning to the side in future.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • Washington residents chose an Amazon delivery van, speaking to Seattle’s tech economy.
    — Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 July 2026
Definition of speaking
Verb
  • Feige said, shouting out Holland, Cretton, fellow producer Amy Pascal and distributor Sony Pictures.
    — Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The officers began shouting multiple commands simultaneously, creating confusion for Aubrey.
    — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of shouting
Verb
  • The other was a tearing beauty, a creature so lovely that one look at her sent young men’s blood pressure skyward and set them to uttering wild, hoarse cries and tearing telephone directories apart with the bare hands.
    — John Madson, Outdoor Life, 1 July 2026
  • All season, Shamea and Porsha have circled each other, barely uttering a direct word, but the tensions seep to the rest of the group, trickling into every interaction.
    — Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 29 June 2026
Definition of uttering
Verb
  • That contradicts what many publishers have been saying, though most publishers are of course wary of sharing too many proprietary numbers publicly.
    — Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 1 Aug. 2026
  • After county planning officials issued a report stating construction wouldn’t impact the environment, Fish and Game countered, saying the report wasn’t thorough, and a qualified biologist will have to survey the site.
    — Bay City News, Mercury News, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of saying
Verb
  • There was Katlin’s daughter, who had stolen my microphone and was now whispering something into it.
    — Ethan Brooks, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026
  • Shein filed confidentially with the SEC in November 2023, with bankers whispering valuations as high as $90 billion, and profits that the Financial Times reported had doubled past $2 billion.
    — Drew Bernstein, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026
Definition of whispering
Verb
  • Some care providers are living lavishly and charging $400 an hour to watch kids paint, but others are sounding the alarm as payers routinely deny care and their waitlists balloon.
    — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Take, for instance, the 1970s Cincinnati Reds, who won two straight World Series championships and had a scary-sounding nickname — The Big Red Machine — that suggested global domination.
    — Steve Buckley, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of sounding

Browse Nearby Words

drawled
drawling
drawls
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Drawling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drawling. Accessed 6 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on drawling

Nglish: Translation of drawling for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of torpor

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

How long is a jiffy?
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All