1
as in unsure
not feeling sure about the truth, wisdom, or trustworthiness of someone or something
the cop was feeling hinky about the whole situation and was starting to think that it was a setup
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2
as in worried
feeling or showing uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty
after noticing that the driver seemed hinky, the border guard demanded that he submit to an inspection of his vehicle
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Examples of hinky in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Well, that's the question that some people will ask is: Why didn't someone just throw a hinky vote at someone?
—
EW.com, 2 Nov. 2023
Lumber prices have shot up again in a rise reminiscent of a year ago, when high-climbing wood prices warned of the hinky supply lines and broad inflation to come.
—Ryan Dezember, WSJ, 19 Dec. 2021
Some of these outcasts — like the would-be killer of Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley (a hinky looking Adam Chanler-Berat) — are all too familiar.
—Marilyn Stasio, Variety, 14 Nov. 2021
Certainly, there was no shortage of hinky transactions precipitated by the debtors who were intent on protecting their residence as long as possible.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2021
The scene at the small, Northeast Hancock Street house was hinky.
—oregonlive, 3 May 2021
To him, the statistics in the Lancet paper looked hinky.
—Adam Rogers, Wired, 11 Nov. 2020
But something hinky is happening on the five-year-old board charged with approving new charter applications in Alabama.
—al, 21 Sep. 2020
No longer was there just an uneasy sense that something was hinky.
—Jack Hitt, Wired, 13 Aug. 2020
EW.com, 2 Nov. 2023
Lumber prices have shot up again in a rise reminiscent of a year ago, when high-climbing wood prices warned of the hinky supply lines and broad inflation to come.
—Ryan Dezember, WSJ, 19 Dec. 2021
Some of these outcasts — like the would-be killer of Ronald Reagan, John Hinckley (a hinky looking Adam Chanler-Berat) — are all too familiar.
—Marilyn Stasio, Variety, 14 Nov. 2021
Certainly, there was no shortage of hinky transactions precipitated by the debtors who were intent on protecting their residence as long as possible.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2021
The scene at the small, Northeast Hancock Street house was hinky.
—oregonlive, 3 May 2021
To him, the statistics in the Lancet paper looked hinky.
—Adam Rogers, Wired, 11 Nov. 2020
But something hinky is happening on the five-year-old board charged with approving new charter applications in Alabama.
—al, 21 Sep. 2020
No longer was there just an uneasy sense that something was hinky.
—Jack Hitt, Wired, 13 Aug. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hinky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hinky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hinky. Accessed 15 Sep. 2024.
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