wrinkle

¹ American  

[ring-kuhl] / ˈrɪŋ kəl /

noun

1. a small furrow or crease in the skin, especially of the face, as from aging or frowning.

2. a temporary slight ridge or furrow on a surface, due to contraction, folding, crushing, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

wrinkled, wrinkling

1. to form wrinkles in; corrugate; crease.

   Don't wrinkle your dress.

verb (used without object)

wrinkled, wrinkling

1. to become wrinkled.

wrinkle ² American  

[ring-kuhl] / ˈrɪŋ kəl /

noun

Informal.

1. an ingenious trick or device; a clever innovation.

   a new advertising wrinkle.

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wrinkle ¹ British  

/ ˈrɪŋkəl /

noun

1. a slight ridge in the smoothness of a surface, such as a crease in the skin as a result of age

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verb

1. to make or become wrinkled, as by crumpling, creasing, or puckering

wrinkle ² British  

/ ˈrɪŋkəl /

noun

1. informal a clever or useful trick, hint, or dodge

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Other Word Forms

• wrinkleless adjective
• wrinkly adjective

Etymology

Origin of wrinkle¹

1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), back formation from wrinkled, Old English gewrinclod, past participle of gewrinclian to wind round; perhaps akin to wrick, wrench

Origin of wrinkle²

1375–1425; late Middle English, equivalent to wrinc trick ( Old English wrenc; wrench ) + -le

Example Sentences

The service is another wrinkle in the ever-evolving relationship between Amazon and third-party shipping companies such as FedEx.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

Grant Rumley, a former Pentagon official and a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, a Washington think tank, said use of the missiles against Iran “will give Chinese military planners another wrinkle to consider.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

But there’s a wrinkle in Nvidia’s latest claims: It comes with the help of a start-up called Groq, which makes specialty chips focused only on inference.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

"I said, 'Stéphane, you need to get back here. These are wrinkle structures!'"

From Science Daily • Mar. 8, 2026

I wrinkle my nose at all the pennies and try to look elsewhere as the woman behind the counter watches Uhmma count.

From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na

Related Words

• crease
• crumple
• pucker
• rumple
• screw up
• scrunch