inkling
Syllables: inkl·ing/ˈɪŋklɪŋ/
inkling noun: usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given., A vague idea about something. Also the present participle and gerund of inkle.
Noun
inkling (plural inklings)
- Usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given., A vague idea about something.
- [T]he present recalled the past, robed in the memories of its thousand dark and damning deeds of ignorance and superstition, and gave inklings of a brighter and better future; [...]1856, W. S. Balch, “Guiuk-Soui”, in C[aroline] M[ehitable Fisher] Sawyer, editor, The Rose of Sharon: A Religious Souvenir, Boston, Mass.: Abel Tompkins, and Sanborn, Carter & Bazin, →OCLC, page 192
- You ought to know something of French habits, at your age. You must have read books that give an inkling of it.1893, Albert Ross, “‘She Will Probably Have Children.’”, in An Original Sinner (The Albatross Novels), New York, N.Y.: G. W. Dillingham Co., →OCLC, page 195
- Synonyms:
- intimation
- Often preceded by forms of to get or to have: an imprecise idea or slight knowledge of something; a suspicion.
- If that a Pearl may in a Toads-head dwell, / And may be found too in an Oiſter-ſhell; / If things that promiſe nothing, do contain / What better is then Gold; who will diſdain / (That have an inkling of it,) there to look, / That they may find it?1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC
- This man then meeting with Chriſtian, and having ſome inckling of him, for Chriſtians ſetting forth from the City of Deſtruction was much noiſed abroad, not only in the Town, where he dwelt, but alſo it began to be the Town-talk in ſome other places.1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Originally Published by...
- A desire, an inclination.
- I requested brother Weder to come up into the stand and commence the preaching. But, inasmuch as he had his own notion about such things, having an inkling towards Quakerism within him,—that is, not to speak until he felt moved to do so, and this inspiration was wanting,—he refused to preach, and...1870 September 17, “The ‘United Brethren in Christ’”, in W[illia]m J. Allinson, editor, Friends’ Review. A Religious, Literary, and Miscellaneous Journal, volume XXIV, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa....
- A strong culture maintains the stability of its concepts or doctrines in various ways. One way is to convince its members that their inklings towards change are pathological. But actually the range of health is very broad, and the flexibility of the human mind is great. It is not pathological for...1996, Michael Cavanaugh, Biotheology: A New Synthesis of Science and Religion, Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, →ISBN, page 105
Also used as
inkling is also the present participle and gerund of inkle.
Examples of inkling in a sentence
- Hans Diefenbacker, in the spring of 1917 will suffice to give an inkling of this passion: [...]1961, Bertram D[avid] Wolfe, “Introduction”, in Rosa Luxemburg, The Russian Revolution; and Leninism or Marxism? (Ann Arbor Paperbacks for...
- These thoughts, of course, came to me later, though even when I was promoted to him, at the age of perhaps fourteen, some inkling haunted me of the dignity of himself and brother.1911, John Galsworthy, “Quality”, in The Inn of Tranquillity: Studies and Essays, London: William Heinemann, published October 1912, →OCLC...
- Of the thing that sustains him through trials man has no inkling, much less knowledge, at the time.1927, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, “निर्बल के बल राम [Nirbala ke bala Rama]”, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments...
- To be fair, others had had inklings of the truth, but it was Darwin who first put together a coherent and tenable account of why we exist.1976, Richard Dawkins, “Why are People?”, in The Selfish Gene, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN; 2nd edition, Oxford...
Synonyms of inkling
Forms of inkling
| plural | inklings |
|---|
Origin of inkling
From Middle English ningkiling, nyngkiling (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), and then either: * possibly a variant of nikking, nyckyng (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), possibly from nikken (“to mark (a text) for correction (?)”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerunds from verbs); or * more likely from the rebracketing of an inklyng as a ninkiling, from Middle English inklen (“to mention (in a low voice); to tell (the truth)”) [and other forms] + -ing, -inge; inklen may be derived from inca, inke (“dread, fear; doubt; danger, risk (?)”), from Old English inca (“doubt, uncertainty; suspicion; fear; cause for complaint, grievance, grudge, ill-will, offence; quarrel; occasion, opportunity”), from Proto-Germanic *inkô (“ache; grief; regret”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eng-, *yenǵ- (“illness”). The English word would then be analysable as inkle + -ing. Sense 3 (“desire, inclination”) may have been influenced by incline (“to tend to believe or do something”) or French enclin (“inclined, prone”).
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Words that rhyme with inkling
Questions about inkling
- What does inkling mean?
- Inkling means usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given., A vague idea about something.
- How do you use inkling in a sentence?
- Hans Diefenbacker, in the spring of 1917 will suffice to give an inkling of this passion: [...]
- What part of speech is inkling?
- Inkling is a noun.
- How do you pronounce inkling?
- Inkling is pronounced /ˈɪŋklɪŋ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of inkling?
- The plural of inkling is inklings.
Words near inkling in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: inkling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-inkling.wav.
Cite this entry: “inkling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inkling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.