dinky

adjective

din·​ky ˈdiŋ-kē How to pronounce dinky (audio)
dinkier; dinkiest
Synonyms of dinkynext
: overly or unattractively small
drives a dinky little car
also, British : attractively small : cute

Synonyms of dinky

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of dinky in a Sentence

I used to drive a dinky little car. recent college graduates crowding into a dinky New York City apartment
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
And pushing ‘go’ is what this dinky little Honda seems to be about. — New Atlas, 16 Apr. 2026 Stretching out a dinky tape measure that keeps shimmying or bending or snapping back into the roll. — Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 14 June 2026 How would real mountains compare to my favorite suburban dinky hill? — Blair Braverman, Outside, 11 Mar. 2026 Enmeshed in scandal, the former duke and duchess of York have practically vanished from public view – and so have the queen's dinky golden furballs. — Jennifer Hassan, USA Today, 7 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for dinky

Word History

Etymology

Scots dink neat

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dinky was in 1880

Rhymes for dinky

See All Rhymes for dinky

Browse Nearby Words

dinkum oil
dinky
dinky-di
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dinky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dinky. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

dinky

adjective
din·​ky ˈdiŋ-kē How to pronounce dinky (audio)
dinkier; dinkiest
: very small and unimpressive
a dinky room
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All