dinky

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪŋki/

• Audio (southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋki

1780-90; compare Scots dink (“neatly dressed, trim”) (of obscure origin); sense shift perhaps: trim > dainty > small > insignificant; +‎ -y.

dinky (comparative dinkier, superlative dinkiest)

1. (informal, Britain) Tiny and cute; small and attractive.
   • 1915, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of the Island, ch. 11

     How do you like my hat? That one you had on in church yesterday was real dinky.

   • 2010, Sharon Wallace, A House Full of Whispers‎, page 5:

     I played in the dirt with a small dinky car as the garage held no fascination for a little girl of five.

2. (informal, US) Tiny and insignificant; small and undesirable.

   They stayed in a dinky hotel room, but they had a great trip.

• See also Thesaurus:tiny

• dinky-di
• inky-dinky

See DINK

dinky (plural dinkies)

1. (slang) A person in a relationship with double income and no kids

• kindy