squiggle

A squiggle isn't a straight line. It's a loose, winding mark that curves this way and that way. You might see squiggles in a child's drawing, in a quick doodle in the margin, or in messy handwriting with lots of loops.

Think of moving a pen across paper while daydreaming; those aimless lines are often squiggles. The word can also describe a twisting shape or path, like a trail on a map or a line on a screen. A scribble is usually messier, but both words suggest loose marks rather than neat, straight shapes.

A squiggle is a winding, irregular line, often playful or aimless in the way it moves. It's the kind of mark you might make when doodling absentmindedly and letting your pen wander across the page with no clear plan. You can picture it as a curly little line in a notebook, a loose shape in a child's drawing, or a messy loop in someone's signature.

The word often suggests curves, bends, and a casual, almost playful feeling. It is usually used for marks on paper, but it can also describe anything that looks like a loose, twisting line. A child might fill a page with colorful squiggles, or you might notice a squiggle in a sketch, a pattern, or a line drawn on a screen.

It can sometimes be used more broadly for a twisting movement or shape, but that is less common than the meaning of a drawn mark or line. You might say someone's handwriting is full of squiggles if it has many loops and curls, or that a path on a map looks like a squiggle because it bends again and again.

In technical contexts, people also use the word for a wavy line that shows changing information, such as the line on a graph or on a medical monitor. A doctor looking at an EEG or an ECG might talk informally about the squiggles on the screen. Whether it is a carefree doodle, a curly mark in handwriting, or a wavy line that shows changing data, a squiggle is all about curves, looseness, and irregular shape.