dinkum

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
13
Words With Friends
16
Letters
6
Pronunciation
/ˈdɪŋkəm/

Definition of dinkum

3 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang)Genuine, true, honest, on the level.
    “Hon. Sir Ross McLarty: We were always dinkum. Mr. MAY: The ultimate result showed how dinkum the hon. member was.”
    “The dinkum Aussie everyone talks about, almost always with a certain unreal sentimentality, is clearly a worker.”
    “Larry's jeep was behind mine, and as I went past an intersection, I saw a lot of their chaps around a dinkum super Mark VI tank — p'raps a Mark VII or VIII. I didn't have a chance for a proper dinkum look-see, what?”
    “He explained that he was due to have a game of hazards that night with a couple of Italian prospectors and that he was doctoring the dice so that they would do just what he wanted them to do. ‘Tim, is this game dinkum?’ asked Ted. Highly indignant that such a suspicion should arise, he replied angrily: ‘Of course it's dinkum. They'll have loaded dice too!’”
See all 3 definitions

adj

  1. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang)Genuine, true, honest, on the level.
    “Hon. Sir Ross McLarty: We were always dinkum. Mr. MAY: The ultimate result showed how dinkum the hon. member was.”
    “The dinkum Aussie everyone talks about, almost always with a certain unreal sentimentality, is clearly a worker.”
    “Larry's jeep was behind mine, and as I went past an intersection, I saw a lot of their chaps around a dinkum super Mark VI tank — p'raps a Mark VII or VIII. I didn't have a chance for a proper dinkum look-see, what?”
    “He explained that he was due to have a game of hazards that night with a couple of Italian prospectors and that he was doctoring the dice so that they would do just what he wanted them to do. ‘Tim, is this game dinkum?’ asked Ted. Highly indignant that such a suspicion should arise, he replied angrily: ‘Of course it's dinkum. They'll have loaded dice too!’”

noun

  1. (Australia, New-Zealand, obsolete, rare, slang, uncountable)Hard work.
  2. (Australia, New-Zealand, dated, slang, uncountable)Truth.
    “You look real jockey — thats' the dinkum.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Unknown. Earliest recorded use in the phrase fair dinkum in 1879, from Australia. Also recorded (slightly later) from Derbyshire and Lincolnshire dialect. Perhaps related to Gloucestershire dialect ding (“to work hard”).

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