Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for jinks. Search instead for winks.

jinks

British  
/ dʒɪŋks /

plural noun

  1. boisterous or mischievous play (esp in the phrase high jinks )

"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

jinks Idioms  
  1. see high jinks.


Etymology

Origin of jinks

C18: of unknown origin

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.

A lot of time-travel high jinks follow, familiar in their broad outlines but unconventional and highly entertaining in their specifics.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

McDonald is game for the high jinks but doesn’t always seem natural gamboling about the stage.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2025

Yet the comic high jinks, star-crossed lovers and long-lost relatives that pop up in his play “The Miser,” first produced in 1668, will be instantly familiar to anybody who has ever seen a Shakespeare comedy.

From New York Times • May 3, 2024

“Ain’t Got No Home,” which reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, became Henry’s signature hit and definitively captured his humor and his vocal high jinks.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024

He cracked himself up, though I wasn’t sure whether it was Calvin’s high jinks or my own making him so goofy.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman