dinkum
/ˈdɪŋkəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.93 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Hon. Sir Ross McLarty: We were always dinkum. Mr. MAY: The ultimate result showed how dinkum the hon. member was."
- "The dinkum Aussie everyone talks about, almost always with a certain unreal sentimentality, is clearly a worker."
- "Larry's jeep was behind mine, and as I went past an intersection, I saw a lot of their chaps around a dinkum super Mark VI tank — p'raps a Mark VII or VIII. I didn't have a chance for a proper dinkum look-see, what?"
- "He explained that he was due to have a game of hazards that night with a couple of Italian prospectors and that he was doctoring the dice so that they would do just what he wanted them to do. ‘Tim, is this game dinkum?’ asked Ted. Highly indignant that such a suspicion should arise, he replied angrily: ‘Of course it's dinkum. They'll have loaded dice too!’"
- "You look real jockey — thats' the dinkum."
Etymology
Unknown. Earliest recorded use in the phrase fair dinkum in 1879, from Australia. Also recorded (slightly later) from Derbyshire and Lincolnshire dialect. Perhaps related to Gloucestershire dialect ding (“to work hard”).
Usage
Inflected Forms
more dinkum (comparative)
most dinkum (superlative)
Phrases
Synonyms
dinky-die