hint
/hɪnt/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.07 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A clue.
noun
An implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
noun
A small, barely detectable amount.
noun
Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering; an instance of hinting.
noun
An instruction to the database engine as to how a query should be executed, for example whether to use an index or not.
Example Sentences
- "I needed a hint to complete the crossword."
- "He gave me a hint that my breath smelt."
- "There was a hint of irony in his voice."
- "I could taste a hint of lemon in my iced water."
- "And I perceived no touch of change, No hint of death in all his frame, But found him all in all the same, […]"
- "Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension. She considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom,[…]."
Etymology
From Middle English hinten, hynten, variant of henten (“to lay hold of, catch”), from Old English hentan (“to seize, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *hantijan, from Proto-Germanic *hantijaną. Doublet of hent. Related also to hunt.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: hinten, hentan, *hantijan, *hantijaną