doodle

¹ American  

[dood-l] / ˈdud l /

verb (used with or without object)

doodled, doodling

1. to draw or scribble idly.

   He doodled during the whole lecture.

2. to waste (time) in aimless or foolish activity.

3. Dialect. to deceive; cheat.

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noun

1. a design, figure, or the like, made by idle scribbling.

2. Archaic. a foolish or silly person.

doodle ² American  

[dood-l] / ˈdud l /

noun

Chiefly North Midland U.S.

1. a small pile of hay; haystack.

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doodle British  

/ ˈduːdəl /

verb

1. to scribble or draw aimlessly

2. to play or improvise idly

3. to dawdle or waste time

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noun

1. a shape, picture, etc, drawn aimlessly

Other Word Forms

• doodler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of doodle¹

1625–30 in archaic sense “a fool”; 1935–40 in current senses; compare Low German dudeltopf simpleton

Origin of doodle²

Probably extracted from cock-a-doodle-doo ( def. ); a euphemism for cock ³, to avoid association with cock ¹, in sense “penis”

Explanation

A doodle is a casual little drawing you do, often while you're doing something else, like talking on the phone or listening to a teacher's lecture. Your history notebook might be equal parts notes and doodles. A doodle can vary from a meaningless scribble or scrawl to a detailed picture of a dog. You never draw a doodle for some specific purpose — to doodle is to draw in an aimless, haphazard way. In the 1600s, a doodle was a "simple fellow," from the German dudeltopf, "simpleton." It came to mean "foolish designs on paper" by the early 20th century.

Example Sentences

Eyeworks frames fill the tables and each clothing tag is a different elaborate doodle illustrated by Staunton.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2025

At the bottom, one added a postscript—“Peut-être y a t’il autre chose en NZ”—along with a doodle, which has been endlessly parsed in the decades since.

From Slate • Jul. 22, 2025

Only, oopsie doodle, due to a serious knock on the head, Samantha forgot that she’s actually a CIA-trained black-ops agent.

From Salon • Dec. 7, 2024

There are a lot of different looks for the drawings, partly a result of her loving every doodle I made.

From New York Times • May 16, 2024

“And then she freaked out,” I repeated, “and went and got the tulips while we were getting the fireworks. She saw the doodle, remembered whatever she’d forgotten, and then freaked out.”

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green