crinkle
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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crinkles,
present (3rd person singular)
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crinkled,
past participle, past
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crinkling
present participle
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to wrinkle; crimple; ripple.
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to make slight, sharp sounds; rustle.
-
to turn or wind in many little bends and twists.
noun
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a wrinkle or ripple.
-
a crinkling sound.
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a turn or twist.
verb
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to form or cause to form wrinkles, twists, or folds
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to make or cause to make a rustling noise
noun
-
a wrinkle, twist, or fold
-
a rustling noise
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crinklesimple
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crinklessimple
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have crinkledperfect
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has crinkledperfect
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am crinklingprogressive
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are crinklingprogressive
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is crinklingprogressive
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have been crinklingperfect progressive
-
has been crinklingperfect progressive
Past
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crinkledsimple
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had crinkledperfect
-
was crinklingprogressive
-
were crinklingprogressive
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had been crinklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crinkle
1350–1400; Middle English crinklen; akin to Old English crincan to bend, yield, Dutch krinkelen to crinkle; see cringle, cringe, crank 1, -le
Explanation
When you ball up a piece of paper in your hand, you crinkle it — you make a smooth thing wrinkled. Use the verb crinkle to describe what happens when you ball up a freshly ironed shirt and shove it in a suitcase, or the way your favorite teacher scrunches her eyes when she smiles. You can also call the creases or wrinkles themselves crinkles. You might become so annoyed at the crinkles in your curtains that you take them down and iron them. Crinkle comes from the Old English crincan, "to bend or to yield."
Vocabulary lists containing crinkle
Amal Unbound
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Eleanor & Park
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The Lions of Little Rock
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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:
His voice is backed by light bass plucks, piano chords in the key of C and the crinkle of thousands of tiny plastic wrappers being peeled back.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2022
Macfarlane, a seasoned lead of a dozen-plus straight Hallmark holiday romances including “Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen” and “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas,” is skilled at a Labradoresque eyebrow crinkle that could make anyone swoon.
From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
He was startled by noises such as the crinkle of poop bags.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
My 3s had a bit of a crinkle in the center now because I wore them so much.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2022
Let go, thud, subtle crinkle on dry leaves.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
The can itself has a sealed top and crinkles at the edges to make it clear the contents aren't to be drunk.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
Gluten-free chocolate crinkles, molasses spice and pecan bars all have champions in my home.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2023
His face crinkles into a smile: “I love work.”
From The Guardian ● Mar. 22, 2020
Its scattering of paint tubes evokes metallic crinkles despite Freilicher’s gauzy style, and the blue and green strokes she’s marked on the palette — are they “daubs,” or simply daubs?
From New York Times ● Nov. 14, 2018
I raise my hand again, but Mr. Griffiths calls on Justin next, who saunters up to the front of the room and crinkles the edges of his paper as he starts speaking.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Now, with the election ban lifted, Le Pen crinkled her brow at Bouleau’s line of questioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
This filthy and fascinating film is peering in, nose crinkled and stomach churning, to see what bubbles up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026
At a Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, crews unloaded what appeared to be the Titan’s 22-foot hull, crinkled and twisted with exposed wires and cables.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
Her face crinkled and she began to cry, whispering that she still dreams of him.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 22, 2023
Her crinkled ears relaxed; she thrust her snout comfortably against Taran’s shoulder and chuckled contentedly, a blissful smile on her face.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
Tired and graying, crows’ feet crinkling around his eyes, Djokovic summoned the vintage stuff and gave himself a chance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Its smile will be warm and welcoming, with just the right amount of pupil dilation and crinkling at the corner of the eyes.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2024
River, his brown skin and tattoos contrasting against his white tank top, his eyes crinkling from the sun.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2022
Soft brown needles lined the ground under our feet as we padded down the path to climb inside, turning the pages of library books as we swayed, limbs intermingling, dust jackets crinkling.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2022
“So,” he said, crinkling his gray eyes against the smoke, “tell me your story.”
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
