inkling

[ ingk-ling ]

noun

1. a slight suggestion or indication; hint; intimation:

   They hadn't given us an inkling of what was going to happen.

2. a vague idea or notion; slight understanding:

   They didn't have an inkling of how the new invention worked.

inkling

/ ˈɪŋklɪŋ /

noun

1. a slight intimation or suggestion; suspicion

Word History and Origins

Origin of inkling¹

1505–15; obsolete inkle to hint ( Middle English inklen ) + -ing ¹; akin to Old English inca suspicion

Word History and Origins

Origin of inkling¹

C14: probably from inclen to hint at; related to Old English inca

Example Sentences

The choice of Fox News celebrity Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense was the first inkling that this was about to go seriously off the rails.

From Salon

I quit that platform because I had an inkling that what has happened was about to happen.

From Los Angeles Times

Among the votes who aren’t zeroed in on those sources simmers a profound sense of disconnectedness or any inkling that the election mattered at all.

From Salon

“If we’d had any inkling about his hidden and despicable activity he would never have been hired, and the instant we learned of it he was fired,” a spokesperson said.

From Salon

He had no inkling of the contentious national debate over how abortion bans are affecting maternal health care when ProPublica contacted him.

From Salon

Related Words

• hunch
• indication