How to Use curlicue in a Sentence

curlicue

noun
  • Curlicues were carved into the wood.
  • Called curlicues, these were gill-like vents just behind the front wheels.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 22 Nov. 2017
  • Over the vanity hung a neon sign in curlicue magenta script.
    — Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • It’s hidden because no one wants to disturb the curlicue writing.
    — USA Today, 26 June 2023
  • But the only piece of aluminum on the 1971 lemon pig is its curlicue tail.
    — Scottie Andrew, CNN, 31 Dec. 2020
  • The curlicues of eyeliner that were once your signature but now read more like an epitaph?
    — Lisa Armstrong, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 July 2009
  • The road is a thin, curlicue curved by the green Santa Cruz Mountains.
    — Anna Armstrong, Longreads, 9 Dec. 2017
  • Made of resin and brass and balanced on curlicue legs, the beast is part of a 65-piece home collection.
    — Sarah Medford, WSJ, 25 Jan. 2019
  • Moira propped the sword against the wall by the bench, opened her purse, brought out a small tube, and squirted a curlicue of cream into her palm.
    — Colin Barrett, Harper's magazine, 22 July 2019
  • Even if your prose taste runs to curlicue and adornment (mine does), the restraint feels significant.
    — Parul Sehgal, New York Times, 11 July 2019
  • The accessory was designed in a bright pink tone with a curlicue element on the crown of the piece.
    — Julia Teti, Footwear News, 26 Nov. 2025
  • So is an untitled stack of rugged bricks with a chunk of concrete suspended from a metal curlicue.
    — Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 21 Feb. 2026
  • Miss Oates is unfashionable also in that there are no curlicues in her technique.
    — OregonLive.com, 19 Dec. 2017
  • The dark hue soothed the curlicues into submission and calmed the disparate looks into a harmonious whole.
    — Mitchell Owens, ELLE Decor, 18 Aug. 2009
  • Use a medium-tip black permanent marker to doodle curlicue lines, broadening a few strokes.
    — Emily Vanschmus, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Waiters flit by with watercolor-red curlicues of marbled pork, baskets stacked with lettuce leaves.
    — Irene Yoo september 26, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Here, the narrow lanes are curlicues, like a medieval village, with abundant courtyards, alleyways and dead ends.
    — William Booth, Washington Post, 2 May 2023
  • His beautiful women are less flesh and blood than a waltz of curlicues conveyed in a palette of greens, peach, and ocher — nature’s colors.
    — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 11 Jan. 2020
  • The tables are draped in white cloths and set against a backdrop of black wallpaper decorated with cream curlicue brushstrokes.
    — Lindsey McClave, The Courier-Journal, 20 Dec. 2017
  • Plopping herself on a mat, Sudan produced a bushel of perm rods, and began twisting her locs into curlicues.
    — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Start with little circles, scattered across every point in space and time—a curlicue dimension, looped back onto itself.
    — Adam Becker, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2022
  • The apartment itself is accessible only from a curlicue staircase.
    — Curbed, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Something about the curlicue before the first arch of the M and the small rounded loops of the L looked remarkably familiar.
    — Capi Lynn, (salem, USA TODAY, 3 May 2017
  • In the gallery, viewers encounter a defunct pay phone replicated from fragments of wood and a decorative metal curlicue.
    — Danielle Avram, Dallas News, 7 Apr. 2021
  • Today’s priority for printing and cursive is legibility over style, so those curlicues of yester-year are gone.
    — Erin Dolin, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2017
  • As my burger’s bun toasted, it was impaled with a long, broken toothpick, a long intact toothpick, a short toothpick and a green toothpick with a curlicue at the end.
    — Andy Staples, SI.com, 30 June 2017
  • Fayette Station Road will give you an up-close view of the bridge and driving the curlicue roads with hairpin turns is an experience like no other.
    — Wendy Altschuler, Forbes, 16 June 2022
  • The engine and cars of the railroad had the distinctive curlicues and filigree of Emett’s illustrations.
    — John Kelly, Washington Post, 27 July 2019
  • All three drinks are topped with a splash of Topo Chico and served in disposable cups rimmed with Chamoy and chile along with a fruity garnish and playful curlicue straw.
    — Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 29 Dec. 2020
  • Finally, as if playing a visual symphonic encore, a giant streak of phosphorous green seems to swoop down to the treetops and dollop them with a curlicue swirl.
    — Francine Kiefer, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Jan. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'curlicue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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