English
scribbly
From scribble + -y.
Formed from scribble + -y
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- ‘to scratch, to tear’
…
Latin cōnscrībō ‘to enroll or enlist, levy’
Latin scrībillō ‘to scribble or write of trivial matters’
Middle English scrīben
Middle English scriblen
English scribble
Today it means
adj Like a scribble; roughly scrawled; illegible or messy.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “scribbly”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / scribbly