twinkle
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Emit or reflect light in a flickering way.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
twingkuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtwɪŋkəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Emit or reflect light in a flickering manner
“Does a constellation twinkle more brightly than a single star?”
chiefly of eyes
To be bright with delight.
of a source of light
To shine with a flickering light; to glimmer.
To bat, blink or wink the eyes.
To flit to and fro.
noun
A sparkle or glimmer of light.
A sparkle of delight in the eyes.
colloquial
A brief moment; a twinkling.
A flitting movement.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Emit or reflect light in a flickering manner
Used this way, twinkle is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Does a constellation twinkle more brightly than a single star?”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- scintillate , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use twinkle
- “Does a constellation twinkle more brightly than a single star?”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat).
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.