wink
/ˈwɪŋk/verb, noun
wink is spelled W-I-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, wink means “To blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy. (When transitive, the object may be the…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in wink?
| Letters | 4: W-I-N-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,928th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is wink?
Wink appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th 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 wink?
- /ˈwɪŋk/
- [ˈwɪŋk]
Wink has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wink.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wink
- winks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- winking participle, present
- winked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wink mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo close one's eyes in sleep.
- 2
obsoleteTo close one's eyes.
- 3
archaicUsually followed by at: to look the other way, to turn a blind eye.
- 4
archaicTo close one's eyes quickly and involuntarily; to blink.
- 5
To blink with only one eye as a message, signal, or suggestion, usually with an implication of conspiracy. (When transitive, the object may be the eye being winked, or the message being conveyed.)
He winked at me. She winked her eye. He winked his assent.
- 6
To gleam fitfully or intermittently; to twinkle; to flicker.
Her kitchen is a series of Still Lives; the copper pans wink on the walls.
noun
- 1
An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.
- 2
A brief period of sleep; especially forty winks.
- 3
A brief time; an instant.
- 4
The smallest possible amount.
It’s many’s the time I shot the selfsame rifiie before, and it’s many ’s the time after, but niver a wink of the same have I seen. 'T was the sight of a lifetime.
- 5
A subtle allusion.
The film includes a wink to wartime rationing.
- 6
Synonym of tiddlywink (“small disc used in the game of tiddlywinks”).
- 7
UKslangSynonym of periwinkle (“type of mollusk”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wink in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cligner de l’œil, faire un clin d'œil , clin d'œil |
| German | zuzwinkern, zwinkern , Augenzwinkern , funkeln, blinken , eine Mütze Schlaf (voll) |
| Portuguese | piscar (o olho) , piscada |
| Spanish | guiñar, picar el ojo, cucar, bizquear , guiño, guiñada |
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 wink come from?
From Middle English wynken, from Old English wincian (“to wink, make a sign, close the eyes, blink”, weak verb), from Proto-West Germanic *winkōn (“to close one's eyes”), from Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”). Cognate with Middle Low German winken (“to blink, wink”), German winken (“to nod, beckon, make a sign”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).