twinkle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to shine with a flickering gleam of light, as a star or distant light.
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to sparkle in the light.
The diamond on her finger twinkled in the firelight.
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(of the eyes) to be bright with amusement, pleasure, etc.
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to move flutteringly and quickly, as flashes of light; flit.
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Archaic. to wink; blink.
verb (used with object)
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to emit (light) in intermittent gleams or flashes.
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Archaic. to wink (the eyes or eyelids).
noun
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a flickering or intermittent brightness or light.
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a scintillating brightness in the eyes; sparkle.
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the time required for a wink; a twinkling.
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Archaic. a wink.
verb
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to emit or reflect light in a flickering manner; shine brightly and intermittently; sparkle
twinkling stars
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(of the eyes) to sparkle, esp with amusement or delight
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rare to move about quickly
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rare (also tr) to wink (the eyes); blink
noun
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an intermittent gleam of light; flickering brightness; sparkle or glimmer
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an instant
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a rare word for wink 1
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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twinklesimple
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twinklessimple
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have twinkledperfect
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has twinkledperfect
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am twinklingprogressive
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are twinklingprogressive
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is twinklingprogressive
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have been twinklingperfect progressive
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has been twinklingperfect progressive
Past
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twinkledsimple
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had twinkledperfect
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was twinklingprogressive
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were twinklingprogressive
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had been twinklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of twinkle
before 900; Middle English twinklen (v.), Old English twinclian; see twink, -le
Explanation
To twinkle is to sparkle and shine with a flickering light. A night sky in a dark place appears to be filled with stars that twinkle, almost like diamonds in the sky. Stars aren't the only things that twinkle. People whose eyes seem to glimmer with a magical or playful charm can be described as having a twinkle in their eyes. Holiday lights that flicker and flash, gemstones that sparkle in the light, and shimmering fairy lights strung across a patio are examples of other things that twinkle.
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:
It’s something that should have come up at your onboarding with the financial planner, even if you signed up with them a long time ago and retirement was only a twinkle in your eye.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
"You're not meant to be laughing, but you can see all your mates trying to make you laugh, and they've got that twinkle in their eye," she says.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
The winning stock might not exist yet: Today’s superstars like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and leading consumer brands like Nike, McDonald’ and Walmart weren’t even a twinkle in their founders’ eyes in 1926.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
We’ve cleared the postcard phase of winter — the fat twinkle lights, the bow-strapped storefronts, the flattering first snow — but spring has not yet agreed to show up.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
The twinkle of city lights barely broke through the fog, making the air look just gold-hued enough to be magical.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Morphing through nearly nine minutes, the track struts on Ndegeocello’s synthesizer bass lines; twinkles and hovers with Brandee Younger’s harp; and sprints toward the end with double time drumming, headed somewhere new.
From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
At almost every window, a candle or star-shaped decoration twinkles a sign of welcome.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2023
To reach phones on the ground, the satellite uses a large, reflective antenna roughly the size of a racquetball court that twinkles brightly as it orbits.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 13, 2022
At the top of each hour while lit, it twinkles thanks to 20,000 flashing bulbs.
From Reuters ● Sep. 13, 2022
They ranged from discreet golden lights that dripped twinkles to giant displays of snowmen and teddy bears and multicolored stars.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Suddenly, he grabbed my hand, and we were dancing under the moonlight while the trees twinkled with floating bulbs and antique street lamps lit up as if on cue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2024
The world leaders will gather for the meal at the Bharat Mandapam building, a sprawling exhibition center in the heart of New Delhi, which twinkled with blinking lights on Saturday night.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 9, 2023
All eyes focused on her, in part, because they couldn’t help it as she strode the sideline in a head-to-toe, sparkling, gold-and-black tiger-striped pantsuit that twinkled with every movement.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 2, 2023
In both modes his lightly held charisma made the stadium feel somehow smallish even as the Bad Bunny bracelets his team had handed out twinkled all the way up toward the roof.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2022
The man smiled at them; his long beard twinkled as if it were filled with stardust.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
It is faster and brighter than Space Mountain, as the Galacticoaster is heavily populated with twinkling stars, planetary projections and many a Lego brick creation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
The audience rehashed its hunches, they circled potential suspects, they stared at a static image of a horrific crime scene, awash in twinkling moonlight.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
Through the cockpit, the city glowed on the horizon, a strip of twinkling lights severing the night sky from the dark Potomac river.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
The Christmas lights are still twinkling in the town, but several bars closed their doors out of respect.
From Barron's ● Jan. 1, 2026
The fairies drifting to the ground in the falling yellow leaves, twinkling inside them like dewdrops.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
