hint
an indirect, covert, or helpful suggestion; clue: Give me a hint as to his identity.
a very slight or hardly noticeable amount; soupçon: a hint of garlic in the salad dressing.
perceived indication or suggestion; note; intimation: a hint of spring in the air.
Obsolete. an occasion or opportunity.
to give a hint of: gray skies hinting a possible snowfall.
to make indirect suggestion or allusion; subtly imply (usually followed by at): The article hinted at corruption in the mayor's office.
Origin of hint
1synonym study For hint
Other words for hint
Opposites for hint
Other words from hint
- hinter, noun
- un·hint·ed, adjective
Words Nearby hint
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use hint in a sentence
While convalescent plasma appears safe, and there are hints that it may help people in early stages of the disease, not enough data have been amassed to say that the treatment is effective, some experts warn.
COVID-19 plasma treatments may be safe, but we don’t know if they work | Tina Hesman Saey | August 25, 2020 | Science NewsA hint at what spurs such slayings lies in the hyenas’ ranks.
Cook and other executives have dropped hints that Apple wants make a big splash in the field of augmented reality, which uses phone screens or high-tech eyewear to paint digital images into the real world.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is fulfilling another Steve Jobs vision | Rachel Schallom | August 24, 2020 | FortuneTo an optimist, any hint of success means that there must be a pony in here somewhere.
GPT-3, Bloviator: OpenAI’s language generator has no idea what it’s talking about | Amy Nordrum | August 22, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewRaptors coach Nick Nurse teased reporters the day before the game with hints of a mystery defense, and what he unveiled was pretty unusual indeed.
The Raptors’ Defense Is Almost Never The Same, But It’s Always Really Good | Jared Dubin | August 17, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
We later learned that she had left him and was hoping he would catch the hint.
There was no sign of a struggle, and no hint of marital dispute or financial problems.
Family's Best Friend Charged With Murdering Them All | Nina Strochlic | November 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWahlberg chimes in with the hint of a smirk: “The hard days of digging ditches!”
Animals in agony or danger are used by Martin Wittfooth, often to hint at the future of the human condition.
The woman is not looking into the camera, but there is a hint of a smile.
Diane von Furstenberg: Becoming the Woman She Wanted to Be | Diane von Furstenberg | October 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd it might be a good idea for you to give your men a gentle hint to keep their mouths closed about this affair—all of it.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairShe noiselessly takes the hint, and enters the corridor; Phœbe advances to answer his challenge.
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu"You will have to get over that feeling," observed Mr. Carr, disregarding the hint, and taking out his probing-knife.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodThe hint was not neglected, for this kind of hunting is much more sure than that of the woods.
On hearing this, the Earl of Gloucester at once sent Bruce a broad hint in the form of twelve pence and a pair of spurs.
King Robert the Bruce | A. F. Murison
British Dictionary definitions for hint
/ (hɪnt) /
a suggestion or implication given in an indirect or subtle manner: he dropped a hint
a helpful piece of advice or practical suggestion
a small amount; trace
(when intr, often foll by at; when tr, takes a clause as object) to suggest or imply indirectly
Origin of hint
1Derived forms of hint
- hinter, noun
- hinting, noun
- hintingly, adverb
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with hint
see take a hint.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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