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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
Rob Rossi, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
The kooks of that age believed that Iran-Contra was only just an inkling of the secret government behind the scenes that was preparing to herd Americans into prison camps.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 7 Oct. 2025
Still, there’s an inkling of hope that Swift will turn her attention to her movie in the coming months.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 7 Oct. 2025
However, researchers had inklings that there were other mechanisms to tone down immune responses, ones outside the thymus.
—Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 6 Oct. 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 Oct. 2025.
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