Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dinky

/ˈdɪŋki/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.63 in modern English

Syllables: dinky
IPA: /ˈdɪŋki/

13

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Tiny and cute; small and attractive.

British usage; Informal

adj

Tiny and insignificant; small and undesirable.

American usage; Informal

noun

A dinky thing.

noun

A dinky thing.

noun

A person in a relationship with a double income and no kids.

Slang

Example Sentences

"How do you like my hat? That one you had on in church yesterday was real dinky."
"Rather should it be said that these ladies wore dress of military style, since there was nothing uniform about their outfits, one being in powder-blue with silver buttons and a forage-cap, the other in tan with gold buttons and the dinkiest of red-peaked kepis."
"I played in the dirt with a small dinky car as the garage held no fascination for a little girl of five."
"“Ooh, well, he is a particularly pretty one. Look at his dinky little nose,” said Raj with a sweet smile."
"They stayed in a dinky hotel room, but they had a great trip."

Etymology

1780-90; compare Scots dink (“neatly dressed, trim”) (of obscure origin); sense shift perhaps: trim > dainty > small > insignificant; + -y.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: y

Usage

British usage
Informal
American usage
Slang

Inflected Forms

dinkier (comparative) dinkiest (superlative) dinkies (plural)

Derived Forms

dinkily dinkiness

Phrases

dinky-di inky-dinky rinky-dinky

Frequently Paired Words

dinky-di inky-dinky rinky-dinky

Synonyms

insignificant dinkey

Homonyms

dinkey

Rhymes With

pinky kinky stinky pinkie slinky inky twinkie prinkey winky linky binky inky-dinky

Questions

How do you pronounce dinky?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɪŋki/.
What does dinky mean?: Tiny and cute; small and attractive.
Where does dinky come from?: 1780-90; compare Scots dink (“neatly dressed, trim”) (of obscure origin); sense shift perhaps: trim > dainty > small > insignificant; + -y.

How to pronounce dinky

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “dinky”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈdɪŋki/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “dinky”.
Repeat and practice — Say “dinky” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.