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Synonyms

blinking

American  
[bling-king] / ˈblɪŋ kɪŋ /

adjective

Chiefly British.

  1. (used as an intensifier).

    He's a blinking idiot.
blinking British  
/ ˈblɪŋkɪŋ /

adjective

  1. informal (intensifier)

    a blinking fool

    a blinking good film
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • blinkingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of blinking

First recorded in 1910–15; blink + -ing 2

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.

Following more than 300 hours of searching, divers finally spotted the blinking of the miner's torch light, which Zapata had turned on and off to alert them to his location.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

In that moment of blinking, the whole system kind of said, Wait a minute, maybe this guy doesn’t have all of this power.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

The “personal computers” of the day were hobbyists’ kits, contraptions that arrived in pieces, with output displays that were limited to blinking red lights.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Or Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was paralysed after a stroke and authored his 1997 book "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" by blinking his left eye, the only movement he could still control.

From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026

Seven could almost imagine hundreds of blinking red eyes staring back at them from the darkness.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

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.