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This may come as a surprise, but inkling has not a drop to do with ink, whether of squid, tattoo, or any other variety. Originating in English in the early 16th century, inkling comes instead from Middle English yngkiling, meaning “whisper or mention,” and perhaps further back from the verb inclen, meaning “to hint at.” An early sense of the word meant “a faint perceptible sound or undertone” or “rumor,” but now people usually use the word to refer to a vague notion someone has (“had an inkling they would be there”), or to a hint of something present (“a conversation with not even an inkling of anger”). One related word you might not have heard of is the rare verb inkle, a back-formation of inkling that in some British English dialects can mean “to utter or communicate in an undertone or whisper, to hint, give a hint of” or “to have an idea or notion of.” (Inkle is also a noun referring to “a colored linen tape or braid woven on a very narrow loom and used for trimming” but etymologists don’t have an inkling of where that inkle came from.)
Examples of inkling in a Sentence
Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
So when Andrea Cambiaso rolled a pass to him on the edge of the Wydad penalty area 16 minutes into his latest game, Juventus fans would have had an inkling what might be about to happen.
—Steve Madeley, New York Times, 22 June 2025
Peterson’s inkling to be where the action was surfaced in 1967, when Yves Saint Laurent chose to show his collection to the media a month after retailers saw it.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 17 June 2025
For Rosenfeld, the first inklings of our choosiness could be glimpsed in Western Europe in the late 17th century.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for inkling
Cite this Entry
“Inkling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inkling. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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