hint
[ hint ]
/ hɪnt /
noun
an indirect, covert, or helpful suggestion; clue: Give me a hint as to his identity.
a very slight or hardly noticeable amount; soupçon: a hint of garlic in the salad dressing.
perceived indication or suggestion; note; intimation: a hint of spring in the air.
Obsolete.
an occasion or opportunity.
verb (used with object)
to give a hint of: gray skies hinting a possible snowfall.
verb (used without object)
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
1595–1605; (noun) orig., opportunity, occasion, apparently variant of obsolete
hent grasp, act of seizing, derivative of the v.: to grasp, take, Middle English
henten, Old English
hentan; (v.) derivative of the noun
SYNONYMS FOR hint
5
imply.
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 FROM hint
hint·er, noun un·hint·ed, adjectiveWords nearby hint
Example sentences from the Web for hint
British Dictionary definitions for hint
hint
/ (hɪnt) /
noun
a suggestion or implication given in an indirect or subtle manner
he dropped a hint
a helpful piece of advice or practical suggestion
a small amount; trace
verb
(when intr, often foll by at; when tr, takes a clause as object)
to suggest or imply indirectly
Derived forms of hint
hinter, noun hinting, noun hintingly, adverbWord Origin for hint
C17: of uncertain origin
Idioms and Phrases with hint
hint
see take a hint.