FreeScrabbleDictionary

hinky

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
15
Words With Friends
14
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/ˈhɪŋki/

Definition of hinky

6 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. (colloquial)Acting suspiciously; strange, unusual; acting in a manner as if having something to hide, or seemingly crooked.
    “I thought he might be acting hinky.”
    “There's nothing hinky about this.”
    “1993 Jeb Stuart & David Touhy, The Fugitive, imdb.com, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106977/quotes This is hinky, this guy's a college graduate...”
    “And I don't know if that copper reaction you teased me with for H2CO3 would run that direction, would it? Looks hinky.”
    “Given the hinky events of the past twenty-four hours, he had come to suspect that his own unhappy spouse had conspired in the defacing of his prize taxidermy, the trashing of the red BMW, and even the infesting of his luxury sport-utility vehicle with shit-eating insects.”
See all 6 definitions

adj

  1. (colloquial)Acting suspiciously; strange, unusual; acting in a manner as if having something to hide, or seemingly crooked.
    “I thought he might be acting hinky.”
    “There's nothing hinky about this.”
    “1993 Jeb Stuart & David Touhy, The Fugitive, imdb.com, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106977/quotes This is hinky, this guy's a college graduate...”
    “And I don't know if that copper reaction you teased me with for H2CO3 would run that direction, would it? Looks hinky.”
    “Given the hinky events of the past twenty-four hours, he had come to suspect that his own unhappy spouse had conspired in the defacing of his prize taxidermy, the trashing of the red BMW, and even the infesting of his luxury sport-utility vehicle with shit-eating insects.”
  2. (colloquial)Suspicious (of something).
    “I think they get hinky if everything is shaking around and they can't see much.”
    “Lots of folks are hinky about removing ANY "safety" feature from a firearm.”
    “1999 Mar 14: Trn0, Re: HELP w/ taking a knife to another country (TANZANIA), rec.knives, http://groups.google.com/group/rec.knives/msg/4fb8ccf2764ce154?dmode=source&hl=en If the customs inspector gets hinky about letting them into the country, you can let him keep one as a gift.”
    “2005 Feb 11: tiny dancer, Re: Pregnant Ky. Woman Kills Attacker, alt.true-crime, http://groups.google.com/group/alt.true-crime/msg/33d57888c4b937a7?dmode=source&hl=en I was feeling a bit hinky about this one too.”
  3. (colloquial)Dishonest; sketchy; shady
  4. (colloquial, derogatory)Weird; nonstandard.
    “1968 Sept 21: Officer Pete Malloy, as written by Jack Webb, intuiting that a citizen’s report of burglars casing the neighborhood is probably legitimate, Adam-12, Season 1, Episode 1 at 9:32, http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/hulu/vi4018208793/ This [call] shouldn’t be hinky – I’ve got a hunch they’re still floating around.”
    “1995 Feb 1: Gharlane of Eddore, Re: E2 is great SF, rec.arts.sf.tv, http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.tv/msg/b4020dab6031f759?dmode=source&hl=en So either they've got a *really* hinky space drive, or they're just just plain fat-assed lard-brained idiots with delusions of competence.”
    “Heck, I'd *much* rather the 68xxx architecture had caught on than Intel, with its hinky memory-handling.”
    “The motor is rather hinky.”
    “2008 Sept 8: Dave Letterman discussing the climate crisis, The Late Show with Dave Letterman, Show #2980, rec.arts.tv, http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/wahoo/index/php/20080908.phtml I’ve been persuaded that something is hinky, and by God, you can quote me on that. Something is hinky.”
  5. (colloquial)Unreliable; wonky
  6. (colloquial)Snobbish; haughty

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

Possibly from obsolete Scots hink, from Old Norse hinka (“to limp or hobble”), probably not from Old English inca (“doubt; suspicion”). Possibly from hank (“a loop or coil or anything that curbs or restrains”). Possibly from African-American usage: hincty or hinkty.

Words you can make from hinky

9 playable · top: INKY (11 pts)

Best play inky 11 points

3-letter words

5 words

2-letter words

3 words

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1 extension · 1 front

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Front

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