dimple
Americannoun
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dimples
plural
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a small, natural hollow area or crease, permanent or transient, in some soft part of the human body, especially one formed in the cheek in smiling.
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any similar slight depression.
verb (used with object)
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dimples,
present (3rd person singular)
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dimpled,
past participle, past
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dimpling
present participle
-
to mark with or as if with dimples; produce dimples in.
A smile dimpled her face.
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Metalworking.
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to dent (a metal sheet) so as to permit use of bolts or rivets with countersunk heads.
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to mark (a metal object) with a drill point as a guide for further drilling.
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verb (used without object)
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dimples,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dimpled,
past participle, past
-
dimpling
present participle
noun
-
a small natural dent or crease in the flesh, esp on the cheeks or chin
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any slight depression in a surface
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a bubble or dent in glass
verb
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to make or become dimpled
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(intr) to produce dimples by smiling
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dimplesimple
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dimplessimple
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have dimpledperfect
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has dimpledperfect
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am dimplingprogressive
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are dimplingprogressive
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is dimplingprogressive
-
have been dimplingperfect progressive
-
has been dimplingperfect progressive
Past
-
dimpledsimple
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had dimpledperfect
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was dimplingprogressive
-
were dimplingprogressive
-
had been dimplingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dimple
1350–1400; Middle English dimpel, Old English *dympel; cognate with German Tümpel pool
Explanation
A dimple is a small indentation in a surface. A dimple on your cheek is cute, but a dimple on your car door is not so cute. A dimple can be an imperfection or tiny dent, but it's often a little cleft in a person's cheek or chin. People whose dimples show when they smile are particularly charming, and a dimpled chin is often considered quite handsome. One theory of the word's origin is that it meant "pothole" in Old English, from a Proto-Germanic root.
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.
See Examples For:
Sometimes I grow my beard in, but sometimes I like showing my dimple.
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2024
"That is a pimple on a dimple on an ant's left cheek compared to what we need in the world," Banga said.
From Reuters ● Sep. 26, 2023
Chances are, the photos will show the waves in his dark hair and the dimple that emerges when he smiles.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2022
This common viral infection, often seen in children, is harmless but can spread around the body, causing itchy, firm, raised spots that have a small dimple in the middle.
From BBC ● May 24, 2022
He just bit down on his own tongue, and judging by the dimple in his cheek going in and out, he was biting down pretty hard too.
From "Sunny" by Jason Reynolds
From the vantage point of our helicopter above the Alps, you can make out scars and dimples from recent avalanches.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
As tension is applied across the elastic nanosheet in one direction, it expands out in the other dimension as the dimples flatten.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2024
You could fall into his dimples when he smiles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
But in bottlenose dolphins, soon after birth, they lose their whiskers, which leaves behind dimples known as vibrissal crypts.
From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2023
He explains that the dimples form when the razor clams attempt to burrow deeper underground.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
During the campaign Mr. Mamdani was the warm, embracing fellow with the dimpled smile who loved everyone with an undifferentiated warmth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Mr. Close, soft-spoken and warm with a dimpled smile, was raised in Collyweston, with family roots that go back 400 years here.
From New York Times ● May 26, 2024
The atoms in the sheet are made of repeating units consisting of two tungsten atoms to every carbon atom, which are arranged metaphorically like the dimpled surface of an egg carton.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2024
A missing or dimpled primer at the bottom of the cartridge is another trait of dummy rounds.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
Jetta shot Miles a dimpled smile, shoveling her mass of curly hair back over her shoulder.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Unlike many other breast cancers, she said symptoms could include itching, tingling, pulling sensations, dimpling or changes to the skin rather than a distinct lump.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
When he looked under a microscope, he saw small suckers dimpling the rock.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 2022
After setting the bread in your pan and dimpling your dough, drizzle the infused olive oil on top before baking.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2021
In the bowels of the jet, technicians have to remove multiple specialty fasteners on both sides of the inner fuselage skin, then install newly produced “shims” that fill out gaps and remove the structural dimpling.
From Reuters ● Feb. 25, 2021
All around me heavy drops of fresh water plopped loudly and wastefully into the sea, dimpling its surface.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
