twinkle

CEFRB2

/ˈtwɪŋ.kəl/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To shine with small flashes of light.

  2. 02

    noun

    A small flash or sparkle of light.

Examples

  • Planets are easy to identify because they don't twinkle like stars do.

  • There was a happy twinkle in her eyes.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To bat, blink or wink the eyes.

  2. To be bright with delight.

  3. To shine with a flickering light; to glimmer.

More examples

In context

  • He was a rotund, jolly man with a twinkle in his eye.

  • We could see the lights of the village twinkling in the distance.

  • His shrewd little eyes twinkled roguishly.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The stars began to blank in the dark sky, looking like tiny lights.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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”).