squiggle
Americannoun
-
squiggles
plural
verb (used without object)
-
squiggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
squiggled,
past participle, past
-
squiggling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
squiggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
squiggled,
past participle, past
-
squiggling
present participle
noun
-
a mark or movement in the form of a wavy line; curlicue
-
an illegible scrawl
verb
-
(intr) to wriggle
-
(intr) to form or draw squiggles
-
(tr) to make into squiggles
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
squigglesimple
-
squigglessimple
-
have squiggledperfect
-
has squiggledperfect
-
am squigglingprogressive
-
are squigglingprogressive
-
is squigglingprogressive
-
have been squigglingperfect progressive
-
has been squigglingperfect progressive
Past
-
squiggledsimple
-
had squiggledperfect
-
was squigglingprogressive
-
were squigglingprogressive
-
had been squigglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of squiggle
Explanation
A squiggle is a curly, looping line, like the squiggle that serves as your signature when you sloppily sign your name. If you can't read someone's writing, you can call it a squiggle or a scrawl. You can also use squiggle to describe decorative accents or drawn designs, like squiggles of paint in modern art or ornamental squiggles in the pattern on your sofa. Squiggle originated in the early 19th century and was initially used a verb derived from wriggle and squirm.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Richards’s signature style is to break down complex behavioral-finance concepts into minimalist line drawings — sometimes just a squiggle — with only a few words.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026
"That's what happened here. We had all sort of noticed this fishhook squiggle on the rock. It was pretty prominent because it was really, really deep."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024
In other scenes, such as one where he's specifically asked his name, squiggle lines appear over his lips, suggesting that a spell has been cast to prevent him from revealing himself.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2024
I prefer a sprinkling of salt, a bed of raw onions and cilantro and a squiggle of green salsa.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
A squiggle of pink lightning arced across the studio, and that’s the last thing I remember.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
His figures, drawn in thin, nervous squiggles, stood out starkly against a plain background.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2025
The genus name uncus means “hook” in Latin, after the fishhooklike squiggles on the rock left by the fossils.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 19, 2024
After seeing more of the worm-like squiggles the team paid closer attention, taking note of fishhook's characteristics.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024
My hearing had gotten worse, as shown on an audiogram filled with X’s, O’s and squiggles connecting them.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2024
Her paper also had a lot of the same squiggles, half-moons, and the words Good first effort.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
The book, compiled between 1967-1968, features Sir Paul McCartney's draft of the famous song alongside poetry and doodles squiggled by the music legend.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2022
Over the course of a profoundly productive journalism career, he was able to translate all those squiggled notes into some of the finest long-form writing The Post has ever published.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 15, 2020
“Here comes one! There’s an aftershock,” she said as the software showed red, blue and green lines that squiggled up and down.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 14, 2020
Vegetable-focussed appetizers include marinated shishito and Jimmy Nardello peppers, for layering on crusty toast with thickly squiggled ricotta that’s been whipped until it’s as densely creamy as labneh.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 23, 2018
“What is all this?” the father-Human said, looking at the boxes while he squiggled a stick at the device.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
Some look like earthworms and others are covered in tiny bristles, squiggling about.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2022
But just below the surface the music teems with inner details: flourishes of offbeat counterpoint for the voices, squiggling riffs for the instruments.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2021
It's great for squiggling on a slice of pizza or on top of a bowl of fried rice, and its flavor can be found carried into all types of food products.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2021
The cicadas will mostly come out at dusk to try to avoid everything that wants to eat them, squiggling out of holes in the ground.
From Seattle Times ● May 4, 2021
To boot, Onofre’s TV antenna was so tall, so elaborate, so pronged, and so replete with squiggling copper and aluminum tubing and boosters, that it looked like a DEW-line radar interceptor in Greenland.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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