Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

drawl

/dɹɔl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.48 in modern English

Syllables: drawl
IPA: /dɹɔl/

9

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To drag on slowly and heavily; to dawdle or while away time indolently.

Transitive verb

verb

To utter or pronounce in a dull, spiritless tone, as if by dragging out the utterance.

Transitive verb

verb

To move slowly and heavily; to move in a dull, slow, lazy manner.

Intransitive verb

verb

To speak with a slow, spiritless utterance, as from affectation, laziness, or lack of interest.

Intransitive verb

noun

A way of speaking slowly while lengthening vowel sounds and running words together, characteristic of some Southern US accents, as well as Broad Australian, Broad New Zealand, and Scots.

Example Sentences

"Tush, tush, Tarleton, Kemp, nor Singer, nor all the litter of Fooles that now come drawling behinde them, neuer plaid the Clownes more naturally then the arrantest Sot of you all, shall, if hee will but boyle my Instructions in his brainepan."
"Looke what leysure the old bearded Bawd takes / How softly she goes / How one leg comes drawling after another / Now she has her money, her armes are broken."
"talk sometimes a pestilence , and sometimes a hero , mostly in a drawling and dreaming way about it"

Etymology

From a modern frequentative form of draw, equivalent to draw + -le. Compare draggle. Compare also Dutch dralen (“to drag out, delay, linger, tarry, dawdle”), Old Danish dravle (“to linger, loiter”), Icelandic dralla (“to loiter, linger”).

Word Breakdown

Suffix: draw

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /dɹɔl/
British English: /dɹɔːl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

drawls (present, singular) drawling (participle, present) drawled (participle, past) drawled (past) drawls (plural)

Derived Forms

drawler drawlingly drawlingness drawlsome drawly

Phrases

Southern drawl

Frequently Paired Words

brogue lilt lisp twang

Rhymes With

all small call fall lol wall ball paul hall baseball tall mall

Questions

How do you pronounce drawl?: The recorded pronunciation is /dɹɔl/.
What does drawl mean?: To drag on slowly and heavily; to dawdle or while away time indolently.
Where does drawl come from?: From a modern frequentative form of draw, equivalent to draw + -le. Compare draggle. Compare also Dutch dralen (“to drag out, delay, linger, tarry, dawdle”), Old Danish dravle (“to linger, loiter”), Icelandic dralla (“to loiter, linger”).

How to pronounce drawl

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “drawl”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dɹɔl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “drawl” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.