Hint vs. Innuendo

Published: 29 Jun, 2022

Hintnoun

A clue.

‘I needed a hint to complete the crossword.’;

Innuendonoun

A derogatory hint or reference to a person or thing. An implication, intimation or insinuation.

‘She made a devious innuendo about her husband, who was embarrassed.’;

Hintnoun

A tacit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.

‘He gave me a hint that my breath smelt.’;

Innuendonoun

(logic) A rhetorical device with an omitted, but obvious conclusion, made to increase the force of an argument.

Hintnoun

A small, barely detectable amount of.

‘There was a hint of irony in his voice.’; ‘I could taste a hint of lemon in the wine.’;

Innuendonoun

(legal) Part of a pleading in cases of libel and slander, pointing out what and who was meant by the libellous matter or description.

Hintnoun

(computing) Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering. Also known as hinting.

‘This font does not scale well; at small point sizes it has no hinting at all, and the hints that it has for the 10- and 12-point letter 'g' still need work.’;

Innuendoverb

To interpret (something libellous or slanderous) in terms of what was implied.

Hintnoun

(obsolete) An opportunity; occasion; fit time.

Innuendonoun

An oblique hint; a remote allusion or reference, usually derogatory to a person or thing not named; an insinuation.

‘Mercury . . . owns it a marriage by an innuendo.’; ‘Pursue your trade of scandal picking;Your innuendoes, when you tell us,That Stella loves to talk with fellows.’;

Hintverb

(intransitive) To suggest tacitly without a direct statement; to provide a clue.

‘She hinted at the possibility of a recount of the votes.’;

Innuendonoun

An averment employed in pleading, to point the application of matter otherwise unintelligible; an interpretative parenthesis thrown into quoted matter to explain an obscure word or words; - as, the plaintiff avers that the defendant said that he (innuendo the plaintiff) was a thief.

Hintverb

(transitive) To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner.

‘to hint a suspicion’;

Innuendonoun

an indirect (and usually malicious) implication

Hintverb

(transitive) To develop and add hints to a font.

‘The typographer worked all day on hinting her new font so it would look good on computer screens.’;

Innuendo

An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or a derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion.

Hintverb

To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner; as, to hint a suspicion.

‘Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike.’;

Hintverb

To make an indirect reference, suggestion, or allusion; to allude vaguely to something.

‘We whisper, and hint, and chuckle.’;

Hintnoun

A remote allusion; slight mention; intimation; insinuation; a suggestion or reminder, without a full declaration or explanation; also, an occasion or motive.

‘Our hint of woeIs common.’; ‘The hint malevolent, the look oblique.’;

Hintnoun

an indirect suggestion;

‘not a breath of scandal ever touched her’;

Hintnoun

a slight indication

Hintnoun

a slight but appreciable addition;

‘this dish could use a touch of garlic’;

Hintnoun

a just detectable amount;

‘he speaks French with a trace of an accent’;