dinky

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪŋki/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋki

Etymology 1

1780-90; compare Scots dink (“neatly dressed, trim”) (of obscure origin); sense shift perhaps: trim > dainty > small > insignificant; +‎ -y.

Adjective

dinky (comparative dinkier, superlative dinkiest)

1. (informal, British) Tiny and cute; small and attractive.
   • 1915, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “chapter 11”, in Anne of the Island:

     How do you like my hat? That one you had on in church yesterday was real dinky.

   • 2010, Sharon Wallace, A House Full of Whispers‎^[1], page 5:

     I played in the dirt with a small dinky car as the garage held no fascination for a little girl of five.

   • 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     “Ooh, well, he is a particularly pretty one. Look at his dinky little nose,” said Raj with a sweet smile.

2. (informal, US) Tiny and insignificant; small and undesirable.

   They stayed in a dinky hotel room, but they had a great trip.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:tiny

Derived terms

• dinkily
• dinkiness

 

Related terms

• dinky-di
• inky-dinky
• rinky-dinky

Translations

(informal, British) Tiny and cute; small and charmful

• Bulgarian: изящен (bg) (izjašten)
• Czech: hezoučký (cs), miloučký
• French: mignon (fr) m, croquignolet (fr) m
• German: schnuckelig (de), niedlich (de)
• Russian: изящный (ru) (izjaščnyj)

(informal, US) Tiny and insignificant; small and undesirable

• Bulgarian: дребен (dreben), незначителен (bg) (neznačitelen)
• Czech: mrňavý (cs), maličký (cs), nicotný
• French: croquignolet (fr) m
• German: klein und schäbig, klein und mies
• Russian: невзрачный (ru) (nevzračnyj)
• Spanish: minúsculo (es)

Noun

dinky (plural dinkies)

1. A dinky thing.
   1. (Appalachia) A small mine car; especially, a small coal car.

Etymology 2

See DINK

Noun

dinky (plural dinkies)

1. (slang) A person in a relationship with double income and no kids

Anagrams

• kindy