kinky
Americanadjective
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full of kinks; closely twisted.
a kinky wire.
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(of hair) closely or tightly curled.
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Slang. marked by unconventional sexual preferences or behavior, as fetishism, sadomasochism, or the like.
adjective
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slang given to unusual, abnormal, or deviant sexual practices
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informal exhibiting unusual idiosyncrasies of personality; quirky; eccentric
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informal attractive or provocative in a bizarre way
kinky clothes
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tangled or tightly looped, as a wire or rope
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tightly curled, as hair
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of kinky
Explanation
Kinky is a word for unusual things: especially things that are sexually unusual. It's also a term for frizzy hair. As a general term, kinky can refer to anything that is far-out, quirky, or offbeat. More specifically, this is a sexual term for acts that are a little odd, such as a foot fetish. There's also kinky hair: hair with tight curls that is also called crisp, frizzy, and nappy. There's isn't any connection between kinky hair and the first two meanings of kinky. Words just mean different things, and no one knows exactly why.
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.
Bailey lets her displeasure be known by having a friend shave off her beautiful spray of kinky hair.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2024
“Until fairly recently, the Black person was self-conscious about his curly, kinky hair,” he told The New York Times in 1971.
From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2022
The cultural politics surrounding Black women’s natural hair, from loose curls to kinky coils, stretch back hundreds of years.
From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2022
She, too, has seen how, over the past decade, there has been an extreme focus on encouraging women of African ancestry to celebrate their kinky, curly and coily hair texture.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 4, 2022
And while the beauty school lady was straightening my hair, I got to look at the big bank of mirrors and watch it transform from kinky to straight.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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.
