Meaning & use
scowl
Last updated
Meanings
verbintransitive
To pull your eyebrows down and together to show anger or displeasure.
Grammar: Often takes at: scowl at someone.
Patterns
- scowl at someone
- scowl at something
The boy scowled at his broccoli and pushed the plate away.
She scowled at the driver who cut her off.
He scowled when the referee blew the whistle.
nouncountable
An angry or bad-tempered look on the face.
Grammar: Often with a: a scowl on his face.
Patterns
- a scowl on someone's face
- with a scowl
He answered the question with a scowl.
A deep scowl crossed her face when she saw the bill.
The teacher's scowl made the class go quiet.
Word forms
| third person singular | scowls |
|---|---|
| past tense | scowled |
| past participle | scowled |
| -ing form | scowling |
| plural | scowls |
Common combinations
- scowl at
- The cat scowled at the dog.
- a dark scowl
- He gave her a dark scowl.
- scowl in disapproval
- The headmaster scowled in disapproval.
- permanent scowl
- The old man wore a permanent scowl.
- scowl angrily
- She scowled angrily at the noise.
Synonyms and how they differ
- glare
- Glare focuses on a long, angry look at someone, while scowl focuses on the shape of the face.
- frown
- A frown can show worry or concentration, while a scowl nearly always shows anger.
- glower
- Glower is more literary and suggests a sullen, threatening stare.
- grimace
- A grimace shows pain or disgust and can happen without anger.
Opposites
Word family
- scowling adjective
- showing an angry look
- scowler noun
- a person who scowls, rare
- scowlingly adverb
- in a scowling way, rare
Commonly confused: scowl or scowel? scowl or scold?
scowl vs scowel
This is a misspelling; the correct spelling is scowl, which rhymes with owl.
scowl vs scold
Scold means to tell someone off with words, while scowl is only a facial expression.
Practice
What does it mean if a man scowls at you?
Choose one answer.
To scowl is to look angry or displeased. The other options are friendly or unrelated actions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “scowl”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.