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

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

He threw so many dinky passes last season what’s the point of having a big arm?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Kitty Flanagan cocreated and stars in this Australian comedy about a lawyer whose life collapses, so she finds herself working in a dinky suburban law firm.

Read more on New York Times