inkling

[ ingk-ling ]

noun

1. a slight suggestion or indication; hint; intimation:

   They hadn't given us an inkling of what was going to happen.

2. a vague idea or notion; slight understanding:

   They didn't have an inkling of how the new invention worked.

inkling

/ ˈɪŋklɪŋ /

noun

1. a slight intimation or suggestion; suspicion

Word History and Origins

Origin of inkling¹

1505–15; obsolete inkle to hint ( Middle English inklen ) + -ing ¹; akin to Old English inca suspicion

Word History and Origins

Origin of inkling¹

C14: probably from inclen to hint at; related to Old English inca

Example Sentences

So, most of my research always comes from inklings that the conventional wisdom might be wrong.

From Freakonomics

This was before we had any inkling that a pandemic was about to shake us all down to our foundations.

From Freakonomics

It’s an inkling of the promise of cinema, and also the limitations of cinema.

From Vox

Unsatisfied with the world she knew, Keller was tormented by her inkling that there was much more to know, and she extended this torment to the people around her.

From Nautilus

While most had an inkling that some of their audience already gambles on sports — and more are betting-curious — the publishers are all in a race to try and figure out how to entertain, serve and grow that audience.

From Digiday

Based on the way they sprang into action on Friday, his family had more than an inkling of what might be ahead.

From The Daily Beast

I took the elevator up to the second floor without any inkling of what was about to happen.

From The Daily Beast

Did he figure out all at once that Walt was Heisenberg, or do you think that he had an inkling earlier?

From The Daily Beast

Perhaps that should have been the first inkling that this might not be a totally kosher idea.

From The Daily Beast

Her testimony was necessarily brief, as she had never met Valle, or had any inkling that he was stalking her.

From The Daily Beast

To suppose, as many do, that no inkling of all the stupendous schemes reached Napoleon in Spain is preposterous.

From Project Gutenberg

The bourgeois conscience of the West has no inkling of what it means.

From Project Gutenberg

I got my first inkling of what intervalness instead of numberness really meant.

From Project Gutenberg

Why did you leave London secretly, without giving your friends or your mother any inkling of your plans?

From Project Gutenberg

Then catching an inkling of Franz's scheme, he hit the man a quick, hard blow in the mouth with his clenched fist.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hunch
• indication