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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

hint.

A clue.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/hɪnt/
  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.
    I could taste a hint of lemon in my iced water.
  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. An opportunity; occasion; fit time.

    obsolete
Where this word comes 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.

verb/hɪnt/
  1. To imply without a direct statement; to provide a clue.

    intransitive
    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.

    transitive
    to hint a suspicion
  3. To develop and add hints to a font.

    transitive
    The typographer worked all day on hinting her new font so it would look good on computer screens.
  4. To give (a person) a hint; to tip off.

    nonstandard · transitive
    If you find the treasure in the video game, please do not hint other players about it.
Where this word comes 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.

intj/hɪnt/
  1. Signifies that something previously said should be taken as a hint or heeded closely.

    often · reduplication
    And yes, as long as you are being a good coder and engaging in safe practices, nothing should go wrong. (Hint, hint.)
Where this word comes 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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.