Hint Meaning
/hɪnt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA clue.
nounAn implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
Sentence Examples
When I didn't know how to answer the question, he gave me a hint.
There was a hint of fall in the air.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She gave a subtle ____ about her favorite color when talking about flowers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Could you give me a small ____ to help me solve this difficult crossword puzzle?
Word Origin & History
From Middle English hinten, hynten, variant of henten (“to lay hold of, catch”), from Old English hentan (“to seize, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *hantijan, from Proto-Germanic *hantijaną. Doublet of hent. Related also to hunt.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And I perceived no touch of change,
No hint of death in all his frame,
But found him all in all the same, […]"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 23:
"Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension. She considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom,[…]."
— 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
"I, not remembering how I cried out then, / Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint / That wrings mine eyes to't."
— 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
"I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity."
— 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
"VVilling to vvound, and yet afraid to ſtrike, / Juſt hint a fault and heſitate diſlike; […]"
— 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 11, lines 198–199:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She gave a subtle ____ about her favorite color when talking about flowers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Could you give me a small ____ to help me solve this difficult crossword puzzle?