slink

/slɪŋk/

//slɪŋk// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"slink" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“slink” is uncommon English (frequency #61,117 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,117
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To sneak about furtively.

Corpus desk

Index EN-slink · slink · English

slink · rank #61,117 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,117
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH skewing

Nearest frequency peer: skewing (-1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “slink”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “slink” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for slink
PropertyValue
Headwordslink
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/slɪŋk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#61,117
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “slink” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).slinkfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “skewing” (#61,116), “SIV” (#61,115), “snead” (#61,119). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “slink” is #61,117. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

slink is uncommon English at frequency #61,117 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /slɪŋk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

slink has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English slynken, sclynken, from Old English slincan (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Germanic *slinkaną (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleng-, *slenk- (“to turn; wind; twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to sneak; crawl”). C… The correct English form is slink, spelled S-L-I-N-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    To sneak about furtively.
  2. 2
    To give birth to an animal prematurely.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how slink appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. As we do turn our backs From our companion thrown into his grave, So his familiars to his buried fortunes Slink all away, leave their false vows with him, Like empty purses pick’d; and his poor self, A dedicated beggar to the air, With his disease of all-shunn’d poverty, Walks, like contempt, alone.
  2. Back to the thicket slunk the guilty serpent.

Etymology

From Middle English slynken, sclynken, from Old English slincan (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Germanic *slinkaną (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleng-, *slenk- (“to turn; wind; twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to sneak; crawl”). Cognate with West Frisian slinke, Dutch slinken (“to shrink; shrivel”), Low German slinken, Swedish slinka (“to glide”). Compare also German schleichen (“to slink”). More at sleek.

This word in other languages

schleichen(Deutsch)espreitar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "slink"?
"slink" is spelled S-L-I-N-K. The IPA pronunciation is /slɪŋk/.
What does "slink" mean?
As a verb, "slink" means: To sneak about furtively.
How do you pronounce "slink"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slink" is /slɪŋk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "slink"?
From Middle English slynken, sclynken, from Old English slincan (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Germanic *slinkaną (“to creep; crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleng-, *slenk- (“to turn; wind; twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“to sneak; ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "slink", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

snead#61,119sence#61,105Sammi#61,090sahih#61,089

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list