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gnoll

UK/nəʊl/US/noʊl/

noun

A usually evil and hyena-like humanoid creature found in various forms in fantasy literature and video games.

UncommonScrabble 6

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Meanings

noungnoll (plural gnolls)

plural gnolls

fantasyA usually evil and hyena-like humanoid creature found in various forms in fantasy literature and video games.

Origin

According to A Brief History of Gnolls, by Paul Haynie, they were created by Lord Dunsany in "How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles", and the name was likely derived from a playing field of the Welsh All Blacks known as the Gnoll, probably derived from English knoll.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with gnoll

control whole role goal soul roll toll poll bowl console sole coal cole Joel Powell scroll Nicole sol patrol mol enroll noel Seoul ole

Sounds the same

Cite this entry

APA

gnoll. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnoll

MLA

“gnoll.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnoll. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gnoll,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gnoll.

Source: gnoll on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.