wrinkle

¹ American  

[ring-kuhl] / ˈrɪŋ kəl /

noun

1. a small furrow or crease in the skin, especially of the face, as from aging or frowning.

2. a temporary slight ridge or furrow on a surface, due to contraction, folding, crushing, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

wrinkled, wrinkling

1. to form wrinkles in; corrugate; crease.

   Don't wrinkle your dress.

verb (used without object)

wrinkled, wrinkling

1. to become wrinkled.

wrinkle ² American  

[ring-kuhl] / ˈrɪŋ kəl /

noun

Informal.

1. an ingenious trick or device; a clever innovation.

   a new advertising wrinkle.

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wrinkle ¹ British  

/ ˈrɪŋkəl /

noun

1. a slight ridge in the smoothness of a surface, such as a crease in the skin as a result of age

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verb

1. to make or become wrinkled, as by crumpling, creasing, or puckering

wrinkle ² British  

/ ˈrɪŋkəl /

noun

1. informal a clever or useful trick, hint, or dodge

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Other Word Forms

• wrinkleless adjective
• wrinkly adjective

Etymology

Origin of wrinkle¹

1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), back formation from wrinkled, Old English gewrinclod, past participle of gewrinclian to wind round; perhaps akin to wrick, wrench

Origin of wrinkle²

1375–1425; late Middle English, equivalent to wrinc trick ( Old English wrenc; wrench ) + -le

Example Sentences

The service is another wrinkle in the ever-evolving relationship between Amazon and third-party shipping companies such as FedEx.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

Grant Rumley, a former Pentagon official and a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, a Washington think tank, said use of the missiles against Iran “will give Chinese military planners another wrinkle to consider.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

But there’s a wrinkle in Nvidia’s latest claims: It comes with the help of a start-up called Groq, which makes specialty chips focused only on inference.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

This meant the structures could not have formed from the same sunlight dependent algae that create wrinkle patterns in shallow environments today.

From Science Daily • Mar. 8, 2026

I wrinkle my nose and hold my breath.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Related Words

• crease
• crumple
• pucker
• rumple
• screw up
• scrunch