wrinkle

¹ American  

[ring-kuhl] / ˈrɪŋ kəl /

noun

1. a small furrow or crease in the skin, especially of the face, as from aging or frowning.

2. a temporary slight ridge or furrow on a surface, due to contraction, folding, crushing, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

wrinkled, wrinkling

1. to form wrinkles in; corrugate; crease.

   Don't wrinkle your dress.

verb (used without object)

wrinkled, wrinkling

1. to become wrinkled.

wrinkle ² American  

[ring-kuhl] / ˈrɪŋ kəl /

noun

Informal.

1. an ingenious trick or device; a clever innovation.

   a new advertising wrinkle.

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wrinkle ¹ British  

/ ˈrɪŋkəl /

noun

1. a slight ridge in the smoothness of a surface, such as a crease in the skin as a result of age

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verb

1. to make or become wrinkled, as by crumpling, creasing, or puckering

wrinkle ² British  

/ ˈrɪŋkəl /

noun

1. informal a clever or useful trick, hint, or dodge

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Other Word Forms

• wrinkleless adjective
• wrinkly adjective

Etymology

Origin of wrinkle¹

1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), back formation from wrinkled, Old English gewrinclod, past participle of gewrinclian to wind round; perhaps akin to wrick, wrench

Origin of wrinkle²

1375–1425; late Middle English, equivalent to wrinc trick ( Old English wrenc; wrench ) + -le

Explanation

If you work to iron a stubborn wrinkle out of your shirt, you're trying to smooth out a crease. A wrinkle is a dent or line where that smoothness is interrupted. You might fret about a wrinkle in your skirt or a new wrinkle on your face. Another kind of wrinkle is more figurative: a small complication or problem that arises suddenly. You could describe a torrential rain storm as a wrinkle in your plan to film a sunny scene in your movie, for example. The Old English root is gewrinclod, "wrinkled, crooked, or winding," and it comes from the verb wrinclian, "to wind."

Example Sentences

Iran has also demanded a cease-fire in Lebanon, and on Friday Iran’s Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf introduced a new wrinkle.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

There is one wrinkle, he adds: The pro rata rule.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

The service is another wrinkle in the ever-evolving relationship between Amazon and third-party shipping companies such as FedEx.

From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026

Grant Rumley, a former Pentagon official and a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, a Washington think tank, said use of the missiles against Iran “will give Chinese military planners another wrinkle to consider.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

The wrinkle had appeared between her brows again, and she stared hard at the symbol in the center of the cover, as if she could bore through it with the sheer intensity of her gaze.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Related Words

• crease
• crumple
• pucker
• rumple
• screw up
• scrunch