dinky

[ ding-kee ]

See synonyms for dinky on Thesaurus.com

adjective,dink·i·er, dink·i·est.

Informal. small, unimportant, unimpressive, or shabby: We stayed in a dinky old hotel.
British Informal. fashionable; well dressed; smart.

noun,plural dink·ies.

dinkey.

Origin of dinky

1780–90; compare Scots dink neatly dressed, trim (of obscure origin); sense shift perhaps: trim > dainty > small > insignificant; see -y¹

Words Nearby dinky

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dinky in a sentence

So, I ordered a dinky little $26 cubicle heater that switches between 100 and 250 watts of draw.
How to (Safely) Heat a Tent | wsiler | December 23, 2021 | Outside Online
It’s equipped with two rotating scrub pads that are more powerful than me and my dinky old mop could ever be.
I Might Just Eat Off My Hardwood Floors Thanks to This | Daniel Modlin | March 11, 2021 | The Daily Beast
Even if you’re using the dinky camera on your laptop, the right lighting setup will make you look a lot better.
Want to Stop Looking Terrible on Zoom? 7 Quick Tips to Up Your Video Calling Game | Patrick Lucas Austin | July 6, 2020 | Time
You think that this tragedy has given you an opportunity to catapult you [sic] dinky blog and newspaper to new heights.
The Missing Murder Suspect | Rick Outzen | July 31, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
We don't even have real big prizes—just a dinky little spoon sitting up on the mantel-piece to excite us as if it was a tiara.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton

I'm a good enough Yank to see if your dinky police is such an all-fired cute little bunch of wonder-workers as you say!
Murder in Any Degree | Owen Johnson
I guess its free cruising ground for anybody who can afford to own a steam yacht, or even a common little dinky motorboat.
Motor Boat Boys Down the Danube | Louis Arundel
What fun is it to walk down into that dinky little village keeping step like convicts?
At Boarding School with the Tucker Twins | Nell Speed
But I figured out: there's camp-meetin's an' socials up there, an' a nice, dinky, white shirt once in a way goes pretty good.
The Trail of '98 | Robert W. Service

British Dictionary definitions for dinky

dinky

/ (ˈdɪŋkɪ) /

adjectivedinkier or dinkiest informal

British small and neat; dainty
US inconsequential; insignificant

Origin of dinky

C18 (in the sense: dainty): from dink

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

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