gnarled adjective. › ​rough and ​twisted, ​especially because of ​old ​age or no ​protection from ​bad ​weather: a gnarled ​tree ​trunk The ​old man ​drew a ​long, gnarled ​finger ​across his ​throat. (Definition of gnarled from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press). See all translations.