scribble
n. countablen. a quick, messy mark or a short note written in a hurry. You use this when you want to describe writing that is not neat or clear.
n. a quick, untidy mark or a brief, hurried note. Often used to describe handwriting that lacks legibility or formal structure.
He left a scribble on the mirror for his wife.
The detective found a mysterious scribble on the back of the envelope that looked like a phone number.
The margins of the manuscript were filled with a series of illegible scribbles, likely representing the author's last-minute thoughts before the final print run.
From Middle English scribblen, scriblen, scryblen, scribelen, equivalent to scribe + -le (frequentative suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated May 30, 2026