WINKING Synonyms: 123 Similar and Opposite Words

winking 1 of 2

adjective

as in glancing

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winking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of wink

as in squinting

to rapidly open and close one's eyes she winked several times to get the dust and grit out of her eyes

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in twinkling

to shine with light at regular intervals a lighthouse was winking in the distance

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in gleaming

to shoot forth bursts of light fireflies winking in the darkness beyond our campfire

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in ignoring

to secretly sympathize with or pretend ignorance of something improper or unlawful the whole sporting world seems to wink as untold sums are bet on the outcome of the Super Bowl

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of winking

Verb

Fresh silhouettes in pale pink, sky blue, khaki and white were cut in crisp cotton, winking to the daywear summer occasions of the Sa Su Phi customers who juggle between board meetings, art gallery openings and a garden parties. — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026 The production’s winking tone blunts some of the original’s tear-jerking climax, yet its intact happy ending offers a surprisingly comforting vision of survival in an age of constant crises. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026 The woman at the center of a viral video who was seen winking and smiling at a camera during the Lindsay Clancy trial this week has been dropped by the magazine she was credentialed to cover the trial for. — Kelsie Cairns , Bryan Llenas, FOXNews.com, 26 Aug. 2026 The wry, winking tone still legible in its pages was an early iteration of the urbane magazine voice that powered nineteenth-century publications such as Judge and Puck, as well as later ones like The New Yorker, New York, Spy, and Gawker. — Eric Lach, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2026 The ad ends with Cameli looking into the camera for a few seconds before winking. — Gabe Hauari, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026 Her lyrics, like those of many of her biggest musical influences, are dense texts, full of winking allusions and subtle references to records, bands, and albums that have shaped her own songwriting. — Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2026 The film’s mix of musical swagger, YA melodrama, and winking world-building hit a nerve, turning its core cast into fixtures for a generation that grew up streaming the soundtrack on a loop. — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 25 July 2026 For Lin, part of her goal in posting her surveillance selfies was a winking subversion of the all-seeing state. — T.m. Brown, CNN Money, 18 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for winking

Adjective

These gentler, more glancing interactions often result in a merger, too.

— Phil Plait, Scientific American, 22 May 2026
Glaser, from a very glancing stylistic consideration, looks like a multicam by comparison.

— Joe Reid, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2024

Definition of glancing

Verb

The scene is a sensory one, with layered cowhide rugs, leather armchairs, a wood-burning fire, and twinkling chandeliers that were original to the Pulitzers’ home.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
But the scenes of Roy using household objects to relay the action of the game (accompanied by twinkling music) push Keeley beyond the limits of eccentricity.

— Keith Phipps, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of twinkling

Verb

Tokyo’s hospitality scene is as diverse as the city itself, a place of dizzying contrasts where ancient temples sit in the shadow of gleaming skyscrapers, and traditional craftsmanship juxtaposes cutting-edge technology.

— Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 30 Sep. 2026
My Instagram Discover page is a narcotic carousel of supple leather and gleaming metal.

— Adam Erace, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of gleaming

Verb

Instead of ignoring the noise and letting the backlash blow over, Espinal showed up to the set and posted a video explaining to New Yorkers why, in the long term, productions like this are a boon to the city and its inhabitants.

— Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
Also, one of the biggest risks in using generic off-the-shelf AI for abstracting real estate documents is that the AI model can produce and fill in a plausible value, ignoring what the source supports.

— Pranit Banthia, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of ignoring

Verb

Plus, the regime has endured a worse situation without blinking, and for a longer time.

— Ali Vaez, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2026
Parkinson’s is often marked by tremors, slow or impaired movement, tenseness or rigidity and difficulty balancing, as well as speech changes and loss of automatic motor functions like blinking or smiling, according to Mayo Clinic.

— Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of blinking

Verb

Spend enough time moving through Tokyo, and their faces have a way of finding you, like flickering across the screens mounted behind taxi headrests.

— Crystal Bell, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2026
The apparently bulky buildings and trees of the 3D game world around us would actually be pixels flickering on a flat screen.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2026