squiggly

English

a map of Oregon, with State Route 140 represented by a red squiggly line

Etymology

From squiggle +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪɡəli
• IPA^(key): /ˈskwɪɡli/

Adjective

squiggly (comparative squigglier, superlative squiggliest)

1. (informal) Not straight; wavy and irregular.

   She didn't have a ruler, so she drew a squiggly line to highlight the main points.

   • 2013, Lucinda Scala Quinn, Mad Hungry Cravings, page 291:

     My first memories of eating are bowls of squiggly pasta with red sauce and lots of white cheese.

Translations

Not straight; wavy

• Dutch: kronkelend (nl)
• Finnish: kiemurainen, koukeroinen (fi), kiemurteleva
• German: schnörkelig (de), verschnörkelt (de)
• Portuguese: sinuosa sg or f, sinuoso (pt) sg or m, sinuosas f pl, sinuosos m pl
• Russian: волни́стый (ru) (volnístyj), волнообра́зный (ru) (volnoobráznyj), изо́гнутый (ru) (izógnutyj), криволине́йный (ru) (krivolinéjnyj)
• Swedish: snirklig
• Turkish: eğri büğrü (tr), kıvrımlı (tr)

Noun

squiggly (plural squigglies)

1. (computing, informal) A wavy underline used to indicate an error in text or source code.
   • 2007, Pariah S. Burke, Mastering InDesign CS3 for Print Design and Production, page 72:

     If you have dynamic spell checking enabled, your pamphlet will become a sea of red squigglies.

   • 2008, Rick Leinecker, Vanessa L. Williams, Visual Studio 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies, page 484:

     Coding errors have colored squigglies beneath them to indicate the kind of error. For example, syntax errors appear with red squigglies beneath them...

   • 2010, James S. McKeown, Jim McKeown, Programming in Visual Basic 2010: The Very Beginner's Guide, page 75:

     The next blue squiggly is in the word Dimm. That should be an easy fix. Change it to Dim. Again, that swats two bugs with one fix.

Related terms

• squiggle