An angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions.

synonyms: zag, zig.

Roget 629: circuit, roundabout way, digression, detour, circumbendibus, ambages^†, loop; winding etc. (circuition) 311^†; zigzag etc. (deviation) 279.    ... show more

Roget 847: ornament, ornamentation, ornamental art; ornature^†, ornateness; adornment, decoration, embellishment; architecture; jewelry etc. 847.1. [surface coatings for wood: list] garnish, polish, varnish, French polish, veneer, japanning, lacquer.    [surface coatings for metal] gilding, plating, ormolu, enamel, cloisonn_e.    [surface coatings for human skin] cosmetics (in general), makeup; [Makeup list], eye shadow, rouge, face powder, lipstick, blush.    [ornamental surface pattern: list] pattern, diaper, powdering, paneling, graining, pargeting^†; detail; repousse (convexity) 250; texture etc. 329; richness; tracery, molding, fillet, listel^†, strapwork^†, coquillage [Fr.], flourish, fleur-de-lis [Fr.], arabesque, fret, anthemion^†; egg and tongue, egg and dart; astragal^†, zigzag, acanthus, cartouche; pilaster etc. (projection) 250; bead, beading; champleve ware [Fr.], cloisonne ware; frost work, Moresque [Lat.], Morisco, tooling.    [ornamental cloth] embroidery; brocade, brocatelle^†, galloon, lace, fringe, trapping, border, edging, trimming; hanging, tapestry, arras; millinery, ermine; drap d'or [Fr.].    wreath, festoon, garland, chaplet, flower, nosegay, bouquet, posy, daisies pied and violets blue," tassel, [Love's Labor's Lost], knot; shoulder knot, apaulette^†, epaulet, aigulet^†, frog; star, rosette, bow; feather, plume, pompom^†, panache, aigrette.    finery, frippery, gewgaw, gimcrack, tinsel, spangle, clinquant^†, pinchbeck, paste; excess of ornament etc. (vulgarity) 851; gaud, pride.    [ornamentation of text] illustration, illumination, vignette.    fleuron^†; head piece [Fr.], tail piece [Fr.]; cul-de-lampe [Fr.]; flowers of rhetoric etc. 577; work of art.    ... show more

Roget 244: angularity, angularness^†; aduncity^†; angle, cusp, bend; fold etc. 258; notch etc. 257; fork, bifurcation.    elbow, knee, knuckle, ankle, groin, crotch, crutch, crane, fluke, scythe, sickle, zigzag, kimbo^†, akimbo.    corner, nook, recess, niche, oriel [Arch.], coign^†.    right angle etc. (perpendicular) 216.1, 212; obliquity etc. 217; angle of 45 degrees, miter; acute angle, obtuse angle, salient angle, reentering angle, spherical angle.    angular measurement, angular elevation, angular distance, angular velocity; trigonometry, goniometry; altimetry^†; clinometer, graphometer^†, goniometer; theodolite; sextant, quadrant; dichotomy.    triangle, trigon^†, wedge; rectangle, square, lozenge, diamond; rhomb, rhombus; quadrangle, quadrilateral; parallelogram; quadrature; polygon, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, oxygon^†, decagon.    pyramid, cone.    Platonic bodies; cube, rhomboid; tetrahedron, pentahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, eicosahedron; prism, pyramid; parallelopiped; curb roof, gambrel roof, mansard roof.    ... show more

Roget 279: deviation; swerving etc. v.; obliquation^†, warp, refraction; flection^†, flexion; sweep; deflection, deflexure^†; declination.    diversion, digression, depart from, aberration; divergence etc. 291; zigzag; detour etc. (circuit) 629; divagation.    [Desultory motion] wandering etc. v.; vagrancy, evagation^†; bypaths and crooked ways; byroad.    [Motion sideways, oblique motion] sidling etc. v.; knight's move at chess.    ... show more

Dutch: Zigzag, zigzaggen, zigzaggensgewijs, zigzag
Polish: zygzak

Travel along a zigzag path:
— The river zigzags through the countryside.

synonym: crank.

Having short sharp turns or angles.

synonym: zig-zag.

Roget 629: circuitous, indirect, roundabout; zigzag etc. (deviating) 279; backhanded.   

Roget 279: deviating etc. v.; aberrant, errant; excursive, discursive; devious, desultory, loose; rambling; stray, erratic, vagrant, undirected, circuitous, indirect, zigzag; crab-like.    ... show more

Roget 244: angular, bent, crooked, aduncous^†, uncinated^†, aquiline, jagged, serrated; falciform^†, falcated^†; furcated^†, forked, bifurcate, zigzag; furcular^†; hooked; dovetailed; knock kneed, crinkled, akimbo, kimbo^†, geniculated^†; oblique etc. 217.    fusiform [Micro.], wedge-shaped, cuneiform; cuneate^†, multangular^†, oxygonal^†; triangular, trigonal^†, trilateral; quadrangular, quadrilateral; foursquare; rectangular, square, multilateral; polygonal etc. n.; cubical, rhomboid, rhomboidal, pyramidal.    ... show more

Polish: zygzakowaty, zygzakowy

In a zigzag course or on a zigzag path.

Roget 314: to and fro, up and down, backwards and forwards, hither and yon, seesaw, zigzag, wibble-wabble^†, in and out, from side to side, like buckets in a well.