Word
doodle
Phoneticsdoo·dle, stress on the first syllable
US/ˈdudəɫ/
UK/dˈuːdəl/
Countable noun
Definition
n. a simple drawing you make while you are thinking about something else. You might do this while you are on the phone or in a meeting.
n. a rough drawing or scribble produced while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Often used to describe spontaneous sketches in the margins of notebooks.
Examples
“I made a little doodle of a flower during the meeting.”
“The margins of his history textbook were filled with intricate doodles of spaceships and robots.”
“While the speaker's presentation was technically proficient, the audience's wandering attention was evidenced by the elaborate doodles appearing on their provided note-pads.”
Examples
simple
“I made a little doodle of a flower during the meeting.”
contextual
“The margins of his history textbook were filled with intricate doodles of spaceships and robots.”
complex
“While the speaker's presentation was technically proficient, the audience's wandering attention was evidenced by the elaborate doodles appearing on their provided note-pads.”
Usage
Commonly used with the verb 'to do' or 'to make'.
Etymology
Originally dialectal, from Low German dudeldopp (“simpleton”). Influenced by dawdle. Compare also German dudeln (“to play (the bagpipe)”). The word doodle first appeared in the early 17th century to mean a fool or simpleton. German variants of the etymon include Dudeltopf, Dudentopf, Dudenkopf, Dude and Dödel. American English dude may be a derivation of doodle. The meaning "fool, simpleton" is intended in the song title "Yankee Doodle", originally sung by British colonial troops prior to the American Revolutionary War. This is also the origin of the early eighteenth century verb to doodle, meaning "to swindle or to make a fool of". The modern meaning emerged in the 1930s either from this meaning or from the verb "to dawdle", which since the seventeenth century has had the meaning of wasting time or being lazy.
Extracted from Labradoodle, itself a blend of labrador and poodle
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
01. holy doodle
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B1 PreliminaryIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.4.0–5.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 3.0–3.544–71TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.550–784
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B1 · Intermediate
- Updated
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