high jinks
/ˈhaɪ d͡ʒɪŋks/
"high-jinks" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“high jinks” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An old Scottish parlour game in which people were chosen, usually by throwing dice, to perform some humorous act or drink a large amount of an alcoholic beverage, with a forfeit if they were unable...
Corpus desk
Index EN-high-jinks · high jinks · English
high jinks · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "H" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | high jinks |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhaɪ d͡ʒɪŋks/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “high jinks” in English
Rare enough to double-check
high jinks is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈhaɪ d͡ʒɪŋks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
high jinks has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably related to jink (“(verb) to make a quick evasive turn; to whirl about when dancing, to dance; (noun) a quick evasive turn”), probably originally onomatopoeic, expressing quick movement. The correct English form is high jinks, spelled H-I-G-H- -J-I-N-K-S.
Definition
- 1An old Scottish parlour game in which people were chosen, usually by throwing dice, to perform some humorous act or drink a large amount of an alcoholic beverage, with a forfeit if they were unable to do so.
- 2Boisterous activity or behaviour; lively fun.
- 3Tricky or waggish behaviour; mischief.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how high jinks appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[T]he frolicsome company had begun to practise the ancient and now forgotten pastime of High Jinks. This game was played in several different ways. Most frequently the dice were thrown by the company, and those upon whom the lot fell were obliged to assume and maintain, for a time, a certain fictitious character, or to repeat a certain number of fescennin…
Only one tutor has rooms here; and I should think, if he's a reading man, it wont be for long before he clears out; for all sorts of high jinks go on on the grass-plot, and the row on the staircases is often as bad, and not half so respectable, as it used to be in the middle passage in the last week of the half year.
Etymology
Probably related to jink (“(verb) to make a quick evasive turn; to whirl about when dancing, to dance; (noun) a quick evasive turn”), probably originally onomatopoeic, expressing quick movement.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.