Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A slight indication or intimation: wanted to avoid any hint of scandal.
- n. A brief or indirect suggestion; a tip: stock-trading hints.
- n. A statement conveying information in an indirect fashion; a clue: Give me a hint about the big news.
- n. A barely perceptible amount: just a hint of color.
- n. Archaic An occasion; an opportunity.
- v. To indicate or make known in an indirect manner.
- v. To give a hint: wouldn't hint at the true purpose of the meeting. See Synonyms at suggest.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To lay hold of; seize; snatch: a dialectal variant of hent.
- To suggest in an indirect manner; indicate by allusion or implication; give a hint of.
- Synonyms 2. Hint, Intimate, Suggest, Insinuate. To hint is to convey an idea in the lightest possible manner, and especially by implication; to let one's thought be known in an indirect, hesitating, or partial manner. To intimate is to convey one's meaning more plainly than by a hint, but still not directly or explicitly. Suggest has a somewhat wide range, often meaning essentially the same as propose or remind (one) of, and ranging down to the meaning of hint: as, to suggest a plan; to suggest more than one says. Insinuate is now generally used in a bad sense; when used in a good sense, it implies pains taken and delicacy of skill. Hints and insinuations are always covert, intimations often, suggestions rarely. An innuendo is a peculiarly dark, crafty, or mean insinuation.
- To make an indirect reference, suggestion, or allusion.
- Synonyms Allude (to), Refer (to), etc. See advert, v. i.
- n. An act of exertion; a snatch: as, in a hint, in a moment.
- n. An opportunity; a fit time.
- n. A suggestion made indirectly; a covert suggestion or implication; an indirect indication, conveyed by speech, gesture, action, or circumstance, whether intentional or unintentional.
- n. Synonyms See hint, v. t.
- Behind.
Wiktionary
- n. A clue.
- n. A tacit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
- n. A small, barely detectable amount of.
- n. 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. Also known as hinting.
- n. obsolete An opportunity; occasion; fit time.
- v. To suggest tacitly without a direct statement; to provide a clue.
- v. To develop and add hints to a font.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner.
- v. To make an indirect reference, suggestion, or allusion; to allude vaguely to something.
- n. A remote allusion; slight mention; intimation; insinuation; a suggestion or reminder, without a full declaration or explanation; also, an occasion or motive.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a slight indication
- n. a slight but appreciable amount
- n. a just detectable amount
- n. an indication of potential opportunity
- v. drop a hint; intimate by a hint
- n. an indirect suggestion
Etymologies
- From obsolete hent, from Old English hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic *khantijanan. (Wiktionary)
- Probably from Middle English hinten, henten, to catch, grasp, from Old English hentan. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Financial companies, ** hint hint** AIG, have fired back in disagreement, and the Obama Administration has responded to the criticism saying that they treat each company and situation on a case-by-case basis.”
“There are three books in the series so far and they are on my wishlist with the hope that I get them for Christmas *hubby hint hint* ;”
“No, it is not the gramatically incorrect award that I love so greatly and have never received..hint, hint, but it might be even better; this one is bilingual!”
“And he looks a lot like my Fea *she's a girl, hint hint*”
“So maybe that would be a nice interview * hint hint*”
“Ooh, and I also get to see Sophie's dudey new hi-tech camera phone, which I wanted * hint hint* haha.”
“Hopefully * hint hint* he will make a new entry with the airline's name AND sign Grr's guestbook with both flight number (if he has it), arrival time, and airline name.”
“How evil! lol j/k You made up for that. * hint hint* hehe Love you too!”
“I will go down to Slope Hall; -- give Lady Dorothy a hint that she has it now in her power to make one man happy; -- _a hint_ I believe she never had before.”
“I wish people made more poses for girl friends: P * hint hint*”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hint’.
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multiple meaning words
These words seem very familiar but are awfully-versatile and oftentimes serve senses exceptionally beyond people's presumptions ...
sense, serve, please, say, profile, draw, weather, bear, project, ship, profiler, tune and 140 more...
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the author [suggests] adjectives
allude to, refer to, hint, insinuate, intimate, present, prompt, inspire, advise, notes, proposes, suggests and 42 more...
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I am : talking
"These are talking words," I announce. "You mean verbs that can be used for dialogue?" you ask. "That's right!" I agree.
say, speak, ask, declare, query, shout, yell, scream, shriek, squeal, squeak, screech and 81 more...
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Not Much
smidgeon, iota, scintilla, dab, bit, trace, touch, soupçon, crumb, dash, drop, whit and 19 more...
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kalidas's Words
crepuscular, mellifluous, ephemeral, diaphanous, zeitgeist, geisterfahrer, infinite, eternal, idyllic, azure, reminiscent, oblivion and 521 more...
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Flutter
tuberose, golden apple, apple cider, unicorn, extraordinary, Pleiades, Merope, speckle, glitter, rose, pitter-pat, whale and 314 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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catching words
wicker(whichwill)work
collate, percolate, key, quay, hedge, haggard, haw, hawthorn, hawfinch, colander, couloir, coulee and 54 more...
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Zephyrous words
Varying degrees of wind
zephyr, wind, breeze, blast, breath, gust, hint, draught, current, puff, gale, waft and 11 more...
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Coined by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare had a masterful command of the English language. But did you know he helped create it? Here's just a few of the words first used by the Bard in his plays.
alligator, dawn, lonely, drug, eyeball, undress, puke, domineering, inaudible, pander, amazement, leapfrog and 3 more...
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Nouns first attested in Shakespeare
summit, scuffle, critic, bandit, mountaineer, savagery, bedroom, radiance, birthplace, pageantry, courtship, ode and 13 more...
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Stuffie: I'm taken
Stuff you take.
out the trash, mile, break, peek, look, gander, me out to the bal..., up space, time, five, photograph, minute and 39 more...
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words I'm not sure if I hate or love
caulk, spunk, hint, pudding, poppy, plum, doodle, cuisine, garbage, codify, hamlet, hoax and 2 more...
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Stuffie: Butterfingers!
Stuffie #2. Stuff you drop.
anchor, charges, ball, name, hint, bomb, it, rhyme, ceiling, icon, class, stitch and 29 more...
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a manner of speaking
Generally, I feel that "they said" is the best way to tag speech in reporting or fiction, but sometimes you want a verb that expresses something about the way a thing is said or shows the attitude ...
mutter, mumble, pronounce, state, whisper, murmur, suggest, ask, inquire, hint, pout, surmise and 50 more...
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Name Suggestions for Ultra-Compact Cars
A companion list to Name Suggestions for Even Bigger SUVs and Trucks. :-)
Sounds best when you preface each word with "the."speck, iota, minute, mote, dot, jot, mite, molecule, particle, smidgen, morsel, scintilla and 64 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hint.

onursaka hint at something. Feb 18, 2012
tbtabby Othello, Act 1, Scene 3:
"I should but teach him how to tell my story, / And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake." Sep 2, 2009