inkling

UK: /ˈɪŋklɪŋ/ US: /ˈɪŋklɪŋ/ ,(ingk′ling)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ink•ling /ˈɪŋklɪŋ/   n. [countable]

1. a slight suggestion;
   hint:
   They gave us no inkling of what was going to happen.
2. a slight understanding:
   I don't have an inkling of how it works.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ink•ling  (ingk′ling), n. 

1. a slight suggestion or indication;
   hint;
   intimation:
   They hadn't given us an inkling of what was going to happen.
2. a vague idea or notion;
   slight understanding:
   They didn't have an inkling of how the new invention worked.

• 1505–15; obsolete inkle to hint (Middle English inklen) + -ing¹; akin to Old English inca suspicion

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

inkling / ˈɪŋklɪŋ/ noun

1. a slight intimation or suggestion; suspicion

Etymology: 14th Century: probably from inclen to hint at; related to Old English inca