Dimple
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A small depression or indentation in a surface.
"The accident created a dimple in the hood of the car."
- 2 a small natural hollow in the cheek or chin wordnet
- 3 Specifically, a small natural depression on the skin, especially on the face near the corners of the mouth.
"You have very cute dimples."
- 4 any slight depression in a surface wordnet
- 5 A small depression, made with a punch on a metal object, as a guide for further drilling.
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- 6 a chad that has been punched or dimpled but all four corners are still attached wordnet
- 1 To create a dimple in. transitive
"The hailstorm dimpled the roof of our car."
- 2 produce dimples while smiling wordnet
- 3 To create a dimple in one's face by smiling. intransitive
"The young girl dimpled in glee as she was handed a cupcake."
- 4 mark with, or as if with, dimples wordnet
- 5 To form dimples; to sink into depressions or little inequalities.
"And smiling eddies dimpled o'er the main."
Example
More examples"The little boy with a dimple in his chin is so cute!"
Etymology
From Middle English dimpel, dimpil, dympull, from Old English *dympel, from Proto-West Germanic *dumpil, from Proto-Germanic *dumpilaz (“sink-hole, dimple”), from Proto-Germanic *dumpaz (“hole, hollow, pit”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewb- (“deep, hollow”), equivalent to dialectal dump (“deep hole or pool”) + -le (diminutive suffix). Akin to German Low German Dümpel, German Tümpel (“pond, pool”). Related also to Old English dyppan (“to dip”).
Related phrases
More for "dimple"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.