Synonyms for wink

Most common

twinkling · flash · split-second · jiffy · blinking · nictation

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

Verb

Antonyms

glower

All antonyms of wink →

Definitions

1. n. 1

   An act of winking (a blinking of only one eye), or a message sent by winking.

2. n. 2

   A brief period of sleep; especially forty winks.

3. v. 1

   Usually followed by at: to look the other way, to turn a blind eye.

4. v. 2

   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.

Related words

Phrases

wink at

Forms

Plural

winks → twinklings, flashes, split-seconds, jiffies…

Past participle

winked
e.g. winked → twinkled, blinked, nictitated, winkled…

Example sentences

• twinkling He gazed longingly at the stars twinkling above.
• blinking There are some red lights blinking on the console.
• cue Tom got into a bar fight and used a pool cue as a weapon.

Popularity over time

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters

cue¹, jif¹

4 letters

tick¹

5 letters

flash¹, blink¹, jiffy², trice¹

6 letters

winkle²

7 letters

instant², twinkle², connive², nictate

8 letters

blinking²

9 letters

twinkling³, nictation, nictitate

10 letters

periwinkle, tiddlywink

11 letters

nictitation

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (jiffy² = 2 syllables).