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Besides the fact that jink first appears in Scottish English, the exact origins of this shifty little word are unknown. What can be said with certainty is that the word has always expressed a quick or unexpected motion. For instance, in two poems from 1785, Robert Burns uses jink as a verb to indicate both the quick motion of a fiddler's elbow and the sudden disappearance of a cheat around a corner. In the 20th century, the verb caught on with air force pilots and rugby players, who began using it to describe their elusive maneuvers to dodge opponents and enemies. Jink can also be used as a noun meaning "a quick evasive turn" or, in its plural form, "pranks." The latter use was likely influenced by the term high jinks, which originally referred in the late 17th century to a Scottish drinking game and later came to refer to horseplay.
Examples of jink in a Sentence
Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, 22 Aug. 2024
On the day of our recent visit, the place was little more than a 3.5-mile loop of pavement—albeit one that jinks across the land like a back road in the Great Smoky Mountains, with 127 feet of elevation change from beginning to end.
—Sam Smith, Robb Report, 14 Apr. 2024
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 19 Sep. 2025
Much of the audience is clearly children, the Gen Alpha tweens nursed on Cocomelon and Baby Shark hi-jinks.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jink
Cite this Entry
“Jink.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jink. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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