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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

zigzag.

A line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ]/ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ]
  1. A line or path that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions.

  2. One of these sharp turns.

Where this word comes from

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662), possibly from a Germanic source via Walloon ziczac (although German Zickzack is attested only from 1703). Also, possibly from the shape of the letter Z, which appears twice in the word. Sense “drunk” from the zigzag movements of a drunk person.

adj/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ]/ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ]
  1. Moving in, or having a zigzag.

    not-comparable
  2. Drunk.

    US · World-War-I · not-comparable · slang
Where this word comes from

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662), possibly from a Germanic source via Walloon ziczac (although German Zickzack is attested only from 1703). Also, possibly from the shape of the letter Z, which appears twice in the word. Sense “drunk” from the zigzag movements of a drunk person.

verb/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ]/ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ]
  1. To move or to twist in a zigzag manner.

Where this word comes from

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662), possibly from a Germanic source via Walloon ziczac (although German Zickzack is attested only from 1703). Also, possibly from the shape of the letter Z, which appears twice in the word. Sense “drunk” from the zigzag movements of a drunk person.

adv/ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zæɡ]/ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ/[ˈzɪɡ.zeɪ̯ɡ]
  1. In a zigzag manner or pattern.

Where this word comes from

Attested from 1712. Borrowed from French zigzag (attested from 1662), possibly from a Germanic source via Walloon ziczac (although German Zickzack is attested only from 1703). Also, possibly from the shape of the letter Z, which appears twice in the word. Sense “drunk” from the zigzag movements of a drunk person.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.