tinker

American  

[ting-ker] / ˈtɪŋ kər /

noun

1. a mender of pots, kettles, pans, etc., usually an itinerant.

2. an unskillful or clumsy worker; bungler.

3. a person skilled in various minor kinds of mechanical work; jack-of-all-trades.

4. an act or instance of tinkering.

   Let me have a tinker at that motor.

5. Scot., Irish English.

   1. a Romani living in the British Isles; a Traveler.

   2. any itinerant worker.

   3. a wanderer.

   4. a beggar.

6. chub mackerel.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to busy oneself with a thing without useful results.

   Stop tinkering with that clock and take it to the repair shop.

2. to work unskillfully or clumsily at anything.

3. to do the work of a tinker.

verb (used with object)

1. to mend as a tinker.

2. to repair in an unskillful, clumsy, or makeshift way.

tinker British  

/ ˈtɪŋkə /

noun

1. (esp formerly) a travelling mender of pots and pans

2. a clumsy worker

3. the act of tinkering

4. another name for Gypsy

5. informal a mischievous child

6. any of several small mackerels that occur off the North American coast of the Atlantic

---

verb

1. to play, fiddle, or meddle (with machinery, etc), esp while undertaking repairs

2. to mend (pots and pans) as a tinker

tinker Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tinker

• not worth a damn (tinker's damn)

---

Other Word Forms

• tinkerer
  noun
• untinkered
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of tinker

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English tinkere (noun), syncopated variant of tinekere “worker in tin”

Explanation

When you tinker, you work casually or attempt to fix something, the way you might tinker with your brother's old bike or tinker with the website you're building for fun. As a verb, tinker means to fix (or mess around with) just about anything. For example, your creative writing teacher might ask you to tinker with your most recent short story and add more specific, vivid details. As a noun, tinker refers to a person whose job involves traveling around and fixing things. It's an old-fashioned word, dating from the 13th century, when traveling tinsmith wasn't an uncommon occupation.

Example Sentences

Rose also continued to tinker with his mechanics.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Waiting could pay off for people who want more in their paychecks instead of big refunds — but who don’t want to tinker with their withholdings.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 19, 2025

Policymakers are more likely to tinker around the edges until things get far uglier.

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

It wasn’t until Riley left for East Carolina that he started to tinker more with the position.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025

For a hands- on executive like Howard, the urge to tinker must have been strong, but he was smart enough to recognize superior understanding, no matter how bizarre the training practices looked.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• dabble
• mess