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scribbling

scribbling

7 3.5
Messy, quick writing or drawing that is hard to read and has little meaning
  • noun
  • /ˈskrɪbəlɪŋ/
translation icon : garabateo
  • I've come home from restaurants with scribblings on napkins of something I overheard.
  • scribbling and writing
  • writing or scribbling

I have, like, little scribblings and snorflings and griffles and, you know, all the art.

Examples

  • Provide adaptive materials and opportunities for print and braille scribbling and writing.

    Academic text (2007)
  • In the kitchen, she keeps a drawer full of first-grade paintings and scribblings.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • And unlike most of our scribbling before and after, our best was finally good enough.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • And there I am like crazy desperate scribbling and scribbling on my paper.

  • And so there's a car next to me and someone's scribbling help on the window.

  • Sometimes she sends me notes, but I can't read the sloppy scribbling, and that angers me and makes me ashamed.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The other, the one I favor, is a used paperback remastered by the marginal scribbling of some eager previous reader.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • After many hours of class, my notebook was filled with scribbling that I struggled to decipher.

  • The child filled the page with bright colors and scribbling, creating a chaotic but joyful artwork.

  • My notes were a mix of useful ideas and random scribbling that made it hard to focus on the important points.

Synonyms

scratch
vsscribbling
13 8.1

Messy handwriting that is hard to read

is quicker and made carelessly with little intended meaning
chicken scratch
vsscribbling
  • Informal
3 8.4

Messy handwriting that is hard to read

is more general messy or quick marking not limited to handwriting
illegibility
vsscribbling
1 7.6

Writing or print that is hard to read

is a quick careless act that focuses on making marks not on meaning
scribble-scrabble
vsscribbling
9.4

Messy, untidy writing or drawing that uses quick mixed lines

is messy or quick but not necessarily a chaotic mixture
spidery handwriting
vsscribbling
7.2

Thin, light writing with long, uneven lines like spider legs

is messier or quicker and focuses on careless making rather than thin form

Antonyms

15 5.3

The skill of writing by hand clearly and neatly

Compounds

A pad of paper for quick notes and sketches

How Legible

readability
6 3.5
jot
1 4.9
scribbling
7 3.5
scrawl
6 5.7
chicken scratch
  • Informal
3 8.4

Surface Forms

scribbling singular
scribblings plural

Morphology

scribbling = scribble (transparent) = scribble + ing

Standard nominalization/continuous-form from the verb 'scribble'; a learner who knows 'scribble' will readily understand 'scribbling'.

Etymology

Scribbling comes from the Latin word scribere, which means 'to write', and is the same root as scribe and script. That's why scribbling describes quick or messy writing that is hard to read.