as in grimace
a twisting of the facial features in disgust or disapproval
the man across the street never seems to wear anything but a scowl
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in frowning
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in glaring
to look with anger or disapproval
scowled down at the misbehaving child
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scowl
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2025
What Aimee Lou Wood conveys with an energetic smile and exclamation, Walton Goggins portrays with a scowl and an expletive.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 16 Feb. 2025
Alana Wise, NPR, 20 Feb. 2025
Those who scowled at such modest steps in programming are presumably hailing the Trump regime’s ugly crusade against D.E.I., which has broadened into an assault on decades of civil-rights progress.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scowl
Noun
Dave comes off like a human scowl, and requires little of Liu besides completely tamping down any sense of natural charisma the Shang-Chi star has.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2025
What Aimee Lou Wood conveys with an energetic smile and exclamation, Walton Goggins portrays with a scowl and an expletive.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 16 Feb. 2025
Verb
The image, which shows Trump scowling to the camera for his booking shot at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, has become a symbol.
—Alana Wise, NPR, 20 Feb. 2025
Those who scowled at such modest steps in programming are presumably hailing the Trump regime’s ugly crusade against D.E.I., which has broadened into an assault on decades of civil-rights progress.
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scowl
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scowl
Noun
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Throughout baseball history, such collisions have been met mostly with grimaces and shrugs.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
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Monday’s developments were greeted with grimace around town.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Young visitors at the Vietnam Military History Museum posted photos of themselves next to the flag with deep frowns, thumbs down or middle fingers raised.—
Stephanie Yang,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2025
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In this community, mention of President Trump elicits shudders, frowns or blank stares.—
Kurt Streeter,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Adjective
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Despite a glaring need at cornerback, the Dolphins were not among the half dozen teams that reached out to former Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander after he was released by the Green Bay Packers on Monday, according to a league source.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
10 June 2025
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Errors only account for the most glaring defensive mistakes and less obvious miscues like missing the cutoff man or throwing to the wrong base don’t show up in the box score but can be just as impactful within a game.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
8 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scowl.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scowl. Accessed 21 Jun. 2025.
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