twinkle
English · Thesaurus
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twinkle
- /ˈtwɪŋ.kəl/
Rhymes with -ɪŋkəl
Where it comes from
From Middle English twinclen, twynclen, from Old English twinclian (“to twinkle”), equivalent to twink (“to wink; blink; twinkle”) + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare German zwinkern (“to wink; twinkle”).
verb twinkles · twinkling · twinkled
-
To shine with a flickering light; to glimmer.
We could see the lights of the village twinkling in the distance.
Similar: flicker, fulgurate, glimmer, scintillate, shimmer, wink
-
To be bright with delight.
His shrewd little eyes twinkled roguishly.
Similar: sparkle
-
To bat, blink or wink the eyes.
She smiled and gave a little nod and twinkled her eyes[…]
Similar: nictitate
- To flit to and fro. A butterfly twinkled among the vines[…]
noun twinkles
- A sparkle or glimmer of light. Soon the rocket was out of sight, and the flame was only seen as a tiny twinkle of light.
- A sparkle of delight in the eyes. He was a rotund, jolly man with a twinkle in his eye.
- A flitting movement. I saw the twinkle of white feet,
-
A brief moment; a twinkling.
Similar: instant, moment, twinkling, bat of an eye, bit, blink of an eye, crack, eyeblink, flash, glimpse, half a mo, jiff
-
The female genitalia.
The popular Swedish cartoon song about genitals was translated as "Willie and Twinkle".
Similar: foo-foo, minnie, axe wound, bearded clam, beaver, berk, bonne bouche, box, bun, bush, cavern, clunge
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: scintillation, scintillate, sparkling, blink, wink, flash, winkle, gleam, sparkle, glitter, shine, glow, nap, sleep, bed, lullaby
Translations
Every language
verb to shine with a flickering light; to glimmer
| Español | titilar, escintilar |
|---|---|
| Português | cintilar, tremeluzir |
| Français | briller |
| Deutsch | funkeln |
| Italiano | scintillare, luccicare |
| Română | pâlpâi, licări, sclipi |
| Русский | мерца́ть mercátʹ |
| العربية | لَأْلَأَ laʔlaʔa |
| עברית | נצנץ nitsnéts |
verb to be bright with delight
| Español | fulgurar, refulgir |
|---|---|
| Français | briller |
| Deutsch | funkeln |
| Italiano | brillare, scintillare |
| Русский | сия́ть sijátʹ |
verb to flit to and fro
| Français | virevolter |
|---|---|
| Русский | порха́ть porxátʹ, порха́ть туда́-сюда́ porxátʹ tudá-sjudá |
noun sparkle of delight in the eyes
| Italiano | scintillio, luccichio |
|---|---|
| Русский | сия́ние sijánije |
noun flitting movement
| Русский | порха́ние porxánije |
|---|
Talk about this word "twinkle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/twinkle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. twinkle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/twinkle "twinkle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/twinkle.Cite this
@misc{twinkle_2026,
title = {twinkle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/twinkle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
