hint

[ hint ]
See synonyms for: hinthintinghints on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an indirect, covert, or helpful suggestion; clue: Give me a hint as to his identity.

  2. a very slight or hardly noticeable amount; soupçon: a hint of garlic in the salad dressing.

  1. perceived indication or suggestion; note; intimation: a hint of spring in the air.

  2. Obsolete. an occasion or opportunity.

verb (used with object)
  1. to give a hint of: gray skies hinting a possible snowfall.

verb (used without object)
  1. to make indirect suggestion or allusion; subtly imply (usually followed by at): The article hinted at corruption in the mayor's office.

Origin of hint

1
First recorded in 1595–1605; (noun) originally, “opportunity, occasion,” apparently variant of obsolete hent “grasp, act of seizing,” derivative of the verb: “to grasp, take,” Middle English henten, Old English hentan; (verb) derivative of the noun

synonym study For hint

5. Hint, intimate, insinuate, suggest denote the conveying of an idea to the mind indirectly or without full or explicit statement. To hint is to convey an idea covertly or indirectly, but intelligibly: to hint that one would like a certain present; to hint that bits of gossip might be true. To intimate is to give a barely perceptible hint, often with the purpose of influencing action: to intimate that something may be possible. To insinuate is to hint artfully, often at what one would not dare to say directly: to insinuate something against someone's reputation. Suggest denotes particularly recalling something to the mind or starting a new train of thought by means of association of ideas: The name doesn't suggest anything to me.

Other words for hint

Opposites for hint

Other words from hint

  • hinter, noun
  • un·hint·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hint in a sentence

  • But the hinter at evil things, having shot his shafts, was turning on his heel, bound for the tap-room at the "Brown Cow."

    The Root of All Evil | J. S. Fletcher
  • To widen their knowledge of the world, and teach them that "hinter den Bergen sind auch Leute!"

  • It contains, notably in the two acts of the "hinter haus," real strokes of observation and profound knowledge of human nature.

    Iconoclasts | James Huneker
  • He had kept this from them so that he should not spoil their vacation in the Alps at Hinter-Tux.

  • The heroes of the Hinter-land are the bold explorers who in militant fashion have made their way into regions as yet unsubdued.

    The Gentle Reader | Samuel McChord Crothers

British Dictionary definitions for hint

hint

/ (hɪnt) /


noun
  1. a suggestion or implication given in an indirect or subtle manner: he dropped a hint

  2. a helpful piece of advice or practical suggestion

  1. a small amount; trace

verb
  1. (when intr, often foll by at; when tr, takes a clause as object) to suggest or imply indirectly

Origin of hint

1
C17: of uncertain origin

Derived forms of hint

  • hinter, noun
  • hinting, noun
  • hintingly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with hint

hint

see take a hint.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.