hinky

adjective hin·ky \ ˈhiŋ-kē \

Updated on: 25 Mar 2018

Definition of hinky

hinkier; hinkiest

1 slang : nervous, jittery

2 slang : suspicious

Examples of hinky in a Sentence

the cop was feeling hinky about the whole situation and was starting to think that it was a setup
after noticing that the driver seemed hinky, the border guard demanded that he submit to an inspection of his vehicle

Recent Examples of hinky from the Web

That outcome, combined with a similarly hinky 2015 election in the United Kingdom, kicked into life an ecosystem of mea maxima culpas from pollsters around the world.

— adam rogers, WIRED, "Maybe Election Polls Aren't Broken After All," 12 Mar. 2018
Because those are almost precisely the businesses least likely to engage in shady or otherwise hinky dealings with their customers—especially those payday lenders, who are God's representatives to the finance industry.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Do They Teach Poetic Justice in Betsy DeVos' Dream Schools?," 10 Feb. 2017
Joonas Donskoi was battling a hinky shoulder that had been separated twice during the season.

— mark purdy, The Mercury News, "Purdy: Thornton’s injury could benefit Sharks — and realistically, now commits them to him," 24 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hinky.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.