scrabbledadj.
/ˈskrab(ə)ld/ Inscribed with scrawling characters, written in a scrawling style.
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society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [adjective] > bad > illegible or untidy
unlegible1451
foul?1467
scribbled1550
scribbling1592
crabbed1612
hieroglyphical1613
scrabbled1625
illegible1640
unreadable1655
scribbly1659
pot-hook1674
scrawlinga1754
undecipherable1758
scribblative1829
scrawly1833
scrawny1833
scrawled1848
hieroglyphic1856
pot-hooky1867
scriggly1896
chicken scratch1933
1625 T. Jackson Treat. Originall of Vnbeliefe xlvii. 425 [They] frame such compositions of sacred lines, as men in phrenzie..do out of scrabled walls or painted cloaths.
1857 H. Miller Schools & Schoolmasters vii. 141 The blank spaces were occupied with deplorably scrabbled couplets.
1880 T. E. Webb tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust ii. iv. 101 A scrabbled parchment, signed and sealed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
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adj.1625