inkling
Americannoun
-
a slight suggestion or indication; hint; intimation.
They hadn't given us an inkling of what was going to happen.
-
a vague idea or notion; slight understanding.
They didn't have an inkling of how the new invention worked.
noun
Etymology
Origin of inkling
1505–15; obsolete inkle to hint ( Middle English inklen ) + -ing 1; akin to Old English inca suspicion
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.
She said: "We had no inkling that the shoot was going to be used for Vogue."
From BBC
“Seeing as you just told me to pull it from your pocket, I had an inkling,” he says flatly.
From Literature
Clinton said that he would have cut off ties to Epstein and never would have flown on his plane if he "had any inkling of what he was doing".
From BBC
In his 2024 memoir, Clinton wrote that he "had always thought Epstein was odd but had no inkling of the crimes he was committing".
From BBC
Bill Clinton has said he “had no inkling of the crimes” Epstein was committing and learned of them only through media reports.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
