dinky

[ding-kee]

adjective

dinkier, dinkiest 

1. Informal.,  small, unimportant, unimpressive, or shabby.

   We stayed in a dinky old hotel.

2. British Informal.,  fashionable; well dressed; smart.

noun

plural

dinkies 

1. dinkey.

dinky

/ ˈdɪŋkɪ /

adjective

1. small and neat; dainty

2. inconsequential; insignificant

Word History and Origins

Origin of dinky¹

1780–90; compare Scots dink neatly dressed, trim (of obscure origin); sense shift perhaps: trim > dainty > small > insignificant; -y ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of dinky¹

C18 (in the sense: dainty): from _dink

Example Sentences

Foy notes that he gets the biggest spuds he can source: “I don’t give out dinky potatoes,” he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The set’s smooth, flat surfaces and simple lines feel dinky.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It’s dinky and depressing and it doesn’t do a thing to make the world a better place.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The fruits of that success are a newly discovered asteroid—an even dinkier Dinky, as it were—and a host of puzzles to solve.

Read more on Scientific American

It turns out that the asteroid Dinkinesh has a dinky sidekick — a mini moon.

Read more on Seattle Times