hint
/hɪnt/noun, verb, interjection
hint is spelled H-I-N-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hint means “A clue” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hint is hints.
How many letters and syllables are in hint?
| Letters | 4: H-I-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hint?
Hint appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hint?
- /hɪnt/
Hint has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hint.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hint?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as hint.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: thin.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hint
- hints plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hinting participle, present
- hinted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hint mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A clue.
I needed a hint to complete the crossword.
- 2
An implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
He gave me a hint that my breath smelt.
- 3
A small, barely detectable amount.
There was a hint of irony in his voice.
- 4
Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering; an instance of hinting.
This font does not scale well to small sizes; the hints for the 10-point letter 'g' still need work.
- 5
An instruction to the database engine as to how a query should be executed, for example whether to use an index or not.
- 6
obsoleteAn opportunity; occasion; fit time.
verb
- 1
To imply without a direct statement; to provide a clue.
She hinted at the possibility of a recount of the votes.
- 2
To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner.
to hint a suspicion
- 3
To develop and add hints to a font.
The typographer worked all day on hinting her new font so it would look good on computer screens.
- 4
nonstandardTo give (a person) a hint; to tip off.
If you find the treasure in the video game, please do not hint other players about it.
interjection
- 1
Signifies that something previously said should be taken as a hint or heeded closely.
And yes, as long as you are being a good coder and engaging in safe practices, nothing should go wrong. (Hint, hint.)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hint in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | indice , soupçon , faire allusion |
| German | Hinweis, Tipp, Wink, Fingerzeig, Anleitung , Andeutung |
| Portuguese | dica, indício , toque, quê, traço , indireta |
| Spanish | pista, indicio, amago , toque , indirecta, buscapié |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hint come from?
From Middle English hinten, hynten, variant of henten (“to lay hold of, catch”), from Old English hentan (“to seize, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *hantijan, from Proto-Germanic *hantijaną. Doublet of hent. Related also to hunt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).