dinky

[ ding-kee ]

/ ˈdɪŋ ki /

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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.

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IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

have

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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

dink, Dinka, dinkey, dinkie, dinkum, dinky, dinky-di, dinna, dinner, dinner clothes, dinner dance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use dinky in a sentence

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|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) /

adjective dinkier or dinkiest informal

British small and neat; dainty

US inconsequential; insignificant

Word Origin for 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

dinky

Origin of dinky

Words nearby dinky

Words related to dinky

How to use dinky in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dinky

Word Origin for dinky