twinkle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to shine with a flickering gleam of light, as a star or distant light.
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to sparkle in the light.
The diamond on her finger twinkled in the firelight.
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(of the eyes) to be bright with amusement, pleasure, etc.
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to move flutteringly and quickly, as flashes of light; flit.
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Archaic. to wink; blink.
verb (used with object)
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to emit (light) in intermittent gleams or flashes.
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Archaic. to wink (the eyes or eyelids).
noun
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a flickering or intermittent brightness or light.
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a scintillating brightness in the eyes; sparkle.
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the time required for a wink; a twinkling.
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Archaic. a wink.
verb
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to emit or reflect light in a flickering manner; shine brightly and intermittently; sparkle
twinkling stars
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(of the eyes) to sparkle, esp with amusement or delight
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rare to move about quickly
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rare (also tr) to wink (the eyes); blink
noun
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an intermittent gleam of light; flickering brightness; sparkle or glimmer
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an instant
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a rare word for wink 1
Other Word Forms
- twinkler noun
- twinkly adjective
- untwinkled adjective
Etymology
Origin of twinkle
before 900; Middle English twinklen (v.), Old English twinclian; twink, -le
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After the premiere of Season 1 at the Berlin International Film Festival, Le Carré sat across from Hiddleston, a twinkle in his eye, and said, “Perhaps there should be some more.”
From Los Angeles Times
Just as Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey somehow managed to have careers after starring in the fourth “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Alexander is a performer with promise: a screen presence with that extra twinkle.
From Los Angeles Times
Among the yet-to-be-solved questions surrounding “Bookish” is whether viewers will, like a 1946 London policeman, find Book insufferable, or if Mr. Gatiss and his insistent twinkle find a place in their hearts.
Over tens of thousands of years, Kalas explained, the region around Fomalhaut would appear to be filled with glowing debris, "sparkling with these collisions" -- similar to twinkling holiday lights.
From Science Daily
Their goal was to understand how the pulsar's radio signal appears to "twinkle" as it travels through clouds of gas on its way to Earth.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
