squiggle
noun

- a short line that has been written or drawn and that curves and twists in a way that is not regular

- a short curved or wavy line; curlicue

- an illegible or meaningless scribble or scrawl

The Cambridge Dictionary / Collins Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The verb ”squiggle” meaning “to work or move about like an eel, squirm, wriggle," 1804, is probably a blend of "squirm" and "wriggle".

The noun “squiggle”, from 1902, meant “a curling twist" (of hair). In reference to handwriting, drawing, etc., the meaning "a wavy or twisted line", is evidenced by 1928.

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THE ECCENTRIC MR DOODLE

“Sam Cox, better known under the name of ‘Mr Doodle’, rocketed to international success thanks to his lively interlocking designs, which he calls ‘graffiti spaghetti.”

“The U.K.-born and -based artist first embraced his doodle-centric persona while studying illustration at the University of the West of England in Bristol. There, he wore clothes covered in his signature patterning—boldly outlined figures which swim amid squiggles, smiley faces, dots, and other simple geometries.”

“His eccentric behaviour led a professor to call him “Mr Doodle”. Since then, his work has exploded in popularity, earning him exhibitions in London and Seoul as well as collaborations with famous brands including MTV, Adidas, Fendi, and Puma.”

“Cox’s work debuted on the secondary market in March 2020; by August “of that year, his painting Spring (2019) had sold for nearly $1 million at auction.”

Artsy Net

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SYNONYMS

coil, curl, curlicue, doodle, embellishment, flourish, jotting, jumble, line, mark, meander, ring, scrawl, scratch, sketch, spiral, SQUIGGLE, swerve, swirl, tangle, twirl, twist, undulation, wave, whorl, wiggle, wreath, zigzag

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“The signatures of many people these days have developed into almost illegible SQUIGGLES.”

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