wink

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verb

ˈwiŋk

winked; winking; winks

Synonyms of wink next

intransitive verb

: to shut one eye briefly as a signal or in teasing

: to close and open the eyelids quickly

: to avoid seeing or noting something

—usually used with at

: to gleam or flash intermittently : twinkle

her glasses winking in the sunlight—

Harper Lee

: to come to an end

—usually used with out

: to stop shining

—usually used with out

: to signal a message with a light

transitive verb

: to cause to open and shut

: to affect or influence by or as if by blinking the eyes

wink

2 of 2

noun

: a brief period of sleep : nap

catching a wink

: a hint or sign given by winking

: an act of winking

: the time of a wink : instant

quick as a wink

: a flicker of the eyelids : blink

Example Sentences

Verb He winked and said that he understood. She winked at me as she asked what I was doing tonight. She winked an eye at me. The puppy was winking in the bright sun. The stars winked in the night sky. The airplane's landing lights winked on and off. Noun Her wink told me she was just kidding. “I knew you could do it,” he said with a wink. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

No one else is allowed to wink! —

Chancellor Agard, EW.com, 19 Feb. 2021 Based on Cabot's own experiences working in an NYU dorm, the novels are rife with her signature humor and winking turns of phrase that would create perfect banter for a series or film. —

Maureen Lee Lenker And Devan Coggan, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2023 The only difference now is that his audience is spamming his likeness across social media in both a continuation of that effort and a winking commentary on it. —

Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2023 This cheeky little pig from England comes with a winking face, blue spots, and a bright pink nose. —

Nikita Charuza, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2023 The firefly is signalling and winking as desperately as a Raymond Chandler heroine for a mate, until a greedy frog, like a Chandler gangster, stops everything and devours it. —

Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2023 Astronomers began speculating about exomoons in the early 2000s, after several exoplanets began winking into distant starlight, and searches since 2018 have turned up a few promising candidates. —

Rebecca Boyle, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2021 With its winking jokes and nudging asides, the film insists on its self-awareness. —

Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Mar. 2023 The result is a bit like playing D&D with kids who consume nothing but Marvel movies and seem eager to annoy their DM with nonstop winking asides. —

A.a. Dowd, Chron, 11 Mar. 2023

Noun

In real life, however, Mr. Jaffee was the opposite of a smart aleck: a genteel, unassuming man whose in-person humor was delivered with a wink, not a cudgel. —

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2023 Cameron paying homage to Sigourney Weaver with that little production-design detail is a nice wink, as is the fact that Weaver returns to Pandora for The Way of Water, despite her character, Dr. Grace Augustine, seemingly dying in the first film. —

Vulture, 16 Dec. 2022 Lou is motivated to plan a trip to Houston for the epochal 2017 Super Bowl when a Brady bobblehead briefly comes to life and gives her a wink. —

Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2023 Clocking in at just over a minute, Warner Bros.’ tease introduces audiences to Margot Robbie’s embodiment of the famous Mattel doll with her towering figure, winning smile and knowing wink. —

Nardine Saadstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2022 Daryl replied with a knowing wink. —

Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Mar. 2023 Sandler segments can be mostly distilled into a few categories: songs, holiday commentary, or ridiculously one-note characters with names like Crazy Spoon Head and Squishy Man that reflected their premise, a punk rock wink at the show's emphasis on generating incessant recurring sketches. —

Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 3 Dec. 2022 But Kreiling’s performance—a single wink of hers, at one point, throws the character into sharper definition—and Butterworth’s intentions defy the obvious. —

Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 12 Nov. 2022 Was the choice to have Mac's residency in Boston an intentional wink to where April currently wound up with Jackson on Grey's? —

Breanne L. Heldman, Peoplemag, 11 Nov. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wink.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English wincian; akin to Old High German winchan to stagger, wink and perhaps to Latin vacillare to sway, Sanskrit vañcati he goes crookedly

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of wink was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century