clue

American  

[kloo] / klu /

noun

• clues
  plural

1. anything that serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem, mystery, etc..

   It is up to Aurora to piece together the clues and solve the murder before she becomes the next victim.

   Synonyms:

   key, mark, evidence, trace, hint, sign

2. a phrase or word provided as a hint to help find an answer or response in a crossword puzzle, on a game show, etc..

   The celebrity editor's name was featured as a clue on the long-running quiz show.

3. an insight into or knowledge about something.

   As a kid from the suburbs, Patrick has lived a sheltered life and doesn't have a clue how to survive on his own.

4. clew.

---

verb (used with object)

• clues,
  present (3rd person singular)
• clued,
  past participle,  past
• cluing
  present participle

1. to direct or point out by a clue.

2. to help find (an answer in a puzzle or quiz) by providing a clue.

   The four-letter “nose” was clued as “characteristic smell of wine.”

3. clew.

verb phrase

1. clue in

   1. to provide with useful or reliable information.

      Clue us in on how these forms are to be filled out.

   2. to make familiar or aware.

      Has she been clued in about the rules of this office?

clue British  

/ kluː /

noun

1. something that helps to solve a problem or unravel a mystery

2. 1. to be completely baffled

   2. to be completely ignorant or incompetent

---

verb

1. (tr; usually foll by in or up) to provide with helpful information

noun

1. a variant spelling of clew

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• clues
  plural

Participles

• cluing
  present
• clued
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• clue
  simple
• clues
  simple
• have clued
  perfect
• has clued
  perfect
• am cluing
  progressive
• are cluing
  progressive
• is cluing
  progressive
• have been cluing
  perfect progressive
• has been cluing
  perfect progressive

Past

• clued
  simple
• had clued
  perfect
• was cluing
  progressive
• were cluing
  progressive
• had been cluing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will clue
  simple
• will have clued
  perfect
• will be cluing
  progressive
• will have been cluing
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of clue

First recorded in 1350–1400; variant spelling of clew

---

Explanation

A clue is a piece of evidence that helps solve a problem, or it's a slight hint. When you’re in the dark about the surprise party your friends are planning, they'll say, “She doesn’t have a clue!” When you first join the police force, you’re mostly just walking the beat. But when you’re promoted to detective, your job is to look for that big clue that will help you solve the case. The original Middle English word was clew, which meant “a ball of thread.” If you were trapped in a labyrinth, you could follow the clew to help find your way out.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clue clues clued cluing

Purchasing managers’ indexes for the U.S. and Europe will offer insights into business sentiment and a further clue on the likely timing and pace of future interest-rate rises.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

PPI data can help provide an early clue to where consumer prices are headed.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

Broadcom’ CEO Hock Tan says AI investors “have no clue what they are investing in.”

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

Scientists have uncovered a surprising clue that may lie not in the genes themselves, but in the way DNA is folded and arranged inside cells.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

She quickly opened her notebook and wrote, Buttons doesn't like hay in the clue column.

From "Pony Problems: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #3" by Carolyn Keene

For those still with us, here are 10 of the film’s strangest moments — by no means the only ones — along with a few clues from Fielder himself about how they came to be.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

The case has sent internet sleuths scouring digital footprints for clues to track them down.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Although the scientists did not recover a complete skeleton, the preserved backbone provides important clues about the snake's enormous proportions.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

There were clues for the city that Kliksberg, Millstein and Olin didn’t live in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

‘Wow. That doesn’t even bear thinking about. Are there any other clues in the box?’

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

How could the clueless become clued if their peers weren’t picking on their every lame move?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

No one clued in Dale about this, or anybody else, for that matter.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026

But now they are now clued in to their fortuitous timing.

From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026

I skipped the steps of the application process that would have clued the agency in on my lack of fitness for the position.

From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026

Finally, some guy clued in and made a dive for the body on the floor.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Anyone can check it out, but it’s geared toward cluing in ranchers in an effort to prevent wolf-livestock conflict.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2025

Some still maintain that the Knicks’ envelope was frozen or had a bent corner, cluing in NBA Commissioner and native New Yorker David Stern as to which envelope to choose.

From Washington Times ● May 9, 2023

The Oscars once showed off the magic of movies: They presented lots of clips from the year’s best films, cluing audiences in on how movies are made.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2022

The nonlinear chronology allows him to start in the present moment, cluing us in to a central truth of the book: We are always in the present.

From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2021

Without cluing in Byrd or even Ray, Axel starts back up the driveway.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• cue
• indication
• inkling
• key
• pointer
• proof
• solution
• suggestion
• tip
• trace

---