# hint

> English word · Noun · IPA /hɪnt/ · frequency rank #6,363

## Definitions
1. A clue.
2. An implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
3. A small, barely detectable amount.
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.
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. An opportunity; occasion; fit time.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **hn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hn)
- **his** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-his)
- **hit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hit)
- **hot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hot)
- **hip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hip)
- **HIV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hiv)
- **hon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hon)
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hut)
- **hun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hun)
- **HRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hrt)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hurt)
- **host** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-host)
- **hits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hits)
- **hong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hong)
- **hunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hunt)
- **hire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hire)
- **hung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hung)
- **hips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hips)
- **holt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-holt)
- **hive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hint-vs-hive)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hhint`, `hinnt`, `hintt`, `hitn`, `hnit`, `ihnt`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hint