wrinkle
1 Americannoun
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a small furrow or crease in the skin, especially of the face, as from aging or frowning.
-
a temporary slight ridge or furrow on a surface, due to contraction, folding, crushing, or the like.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wrinklesimple
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wrinklessimple
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have wrinkledperfect
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has wrinkledperfect
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am wrinklingprogressive
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are wrinklingprogressive
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is wrinklingprogressive
-
have been wrinklingperfect progressive
-
has been wrinklingperfect progressive
Past
-
wrinkledsimple
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had wrinkledperfect
-
was wrinklingprogressive
-
were wrinklingprogressive
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had been wrinklingperfect progressive
Future
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; see wrench) + -le
Explanation
If you work to iron a stubborn wrinkle out of your shirt, you're trying to smooth out a crease. A wrinkle is a dent or line where that smoothness is interrupted. You might fret about a wrinkle in your skirt or a new wrinkle on your face. Another kind of wrinkle is more figurative: a small complication or problem that arises suddenly. You could describe a torrential rain storm as a wrinkle in your plan to film a sunny scene in your movie, for example. The Old English root is gewrinclod, "wrinkled, crooked, or winding," and it comes from the verb wrinclian, "to wind."
Vocabulary lists containing wrinkle
"The Forgotten Treasure" and "There Is No Word for Goodbye"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 13–October 19, 2024
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"Young"
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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.
See Examples For:
The back-and-forth between Taylor Farms and regulators is the latest wrinkle that consumers have to navigate while they figure out what’s safe to eat right now.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
As a result, wrinkle structures are uncommon in rocks younger than about 540 million years old, a period that coincides with a major expansion in animal diversity.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Still, when game day arrived, Wright and his wife were all set to go, except for one major wrinkle: They never got the tickets.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
In turn, these developments promise to smooth out another wrinkle in the Nigerian film industry’s growth story: the talent pool.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
The smell of the salve stings my nostrils, and I wrinkle my nose.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Over time, those mats developed the distinctive wrinkles preserved in the rocks.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
The gigantic new format of the World Cup was always going to throw up a few wrinkles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
New wrinkles, such as an extended cryopod chamber for the Maginot’s larger crew, were needed as well.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Don’s suit is indented with billowing wrinkles, perhaps to suggest the idea of movement, as if the colossus is soaring through the air.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026
The wrinkles in her face turned into smile lines.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
Occasionally, however, conditions allowed the mats and their wrinkled textures to be buried and preserved for millions of years.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
With his high and deeply wrinkled brow and perpetually downturned mouth, Greenspan appeared morose, but he could be quite funny and was popular on the Washington social scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
He asked them to bring their “tools” — broom, stethoscope, an oxygen tank—and posed them against a lightly wrinkled cloth backdrop with natural light.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
About 30 minutes later, the White House posted the same image on the platform, but altered to show Armstrong sobbing, her mouth open, forehead wrinkled, and tears streaming down her face.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
When he arrived in Washington in March 1829, the seventh president was described as “a tall gaunt man, standing straight as a ramrod, his face wrinkled with pain and age, his thick gray hair...turning snow-white.”
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Those affected often develop early skin wrinkling, loss of skin elasticity, reduced body fat, hair loss, hardened arteries, and insulin resistance.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 7, 2025
But when I met him on the banks of the River Coln just outside Fairford, he was wrinkling his nose.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
His wrinkling lips were as expressive as many actors’ eyes.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2022
Those eyebrows start to rise again, the nose wrinkling: Brandi joy face is on its way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2022
When she heard me stir, she turned, wrinkling her forehead, and looked at me.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
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.
