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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

grawlix.

A series of images or symbols used in speech bubbles in comic strips to indicate one or more swear words.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɡɹɔːlɪks/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡɹɔlɪks/General-American/ˈɡɹɑlɪks/cot-caught-merger/ˈɡɹoːlɪks/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. A series of images or symbols used in speech bubbles in comic strips to indicate one or more swear words. An image resembling an illegible scribble used for this purpose.

  2. A series of images or symbols used in speech bubbles in comic strips to indicate one or more swear words. A string of typographical symbols (such as "@#$%&!") used for this purpose.

  3. A series of images or symbols used in speech bubbles in comic strips to indicate one or more swear words. A series of violence-related images (such as bombs, daggers, and skulls) used for this purpose.

Where this word comes from

A meaningless word coined by the American comic strip writer Mort Walker (1923–2018) in a humorous article entitled “Let’s Get Down to Grawlixes” published in The Cartoonist (1964), possibly influenced by growl.

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grawlix studiograwlix workshello, grawlix

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.