hewn

American  

[hyoon, yoon] / hyun, yun /

adjective

1. felled and roughly shaped by hewing.

   hewn logs.

2. given a rough surface.

   hewn stone.

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Other Word Forms

• unhewn adjective
• well-hewn adjective

Etymology

Origin of hewn

1300–50; Middle English hewen, past participle of hew

Explanation

Something that's hewn is carved out of wood or another hard material. A hewn rock statue is cut and shaped out of a slab of stone. Your most prized possession could be a hand-hewn chair made by your grandfather, carved with a chisel out of piece of oak. A child who lives in the country might spend hours with a pocket knife making sharply hewn sticks, one after another. Hewn is the past participle of the verb hew, which comes from the Old English root heawan, "to chop, hack, or gash."

Example Sentences

But when he got it right, his lyrics had an aphoristic directness that made them seem more hewn than written.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

Its throwing arm, currently at 12 o’clock, weighs 360 pounds and is not hewn or sanded; knots are visible in the wood.

From Slate • Jul. 7, 2025

Imagine running your fingers over the jagged grey marble from which two gladiatrices were hewn thousands of years ago.

From Salon • Nov. 26, 2024

Other kinds of complex technologies also developed in the Middle Pleistocene, including wooden structures constructed with logs hewn using hafted tools, which are stone blades affixed to wooden or bone handles.

From Science Daily • Jun. 17, 2024

It was a low gray building hewn from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• chiseled
• engraved
• sculpted
• sculptured