Dinkum

//ˈdɪŋkəm// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Hard work. Australia, New-Zealand, obsolete, rare, slang, uncountable
  2. 2
    Truth. Australia, New-Zealand, dated, slang, uncountable

    "You look real jockey — thats' the dinkum."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Genuine, true, honest, on the level. Australia, New-Zealand, slang

    "Hon. Sir Ross McLarty: We were always dinkum. Mr. MAY: The ultimate result showed how dinkum the hon. member was."

Synonyms

All synonyms
authenticbona fidecandidcard carryingdinky didinky die

Example

More examples

"Hon. Sir Ross McLarty: We were always dinkum. Mr. MAY: The ultimate result showed how dinkum the hon. member was."

Etymology

Unknown. Earliest recorded use in the phrase fair dinkum in 1879, from Australia. Also recorded (slightly later) from Derbyshire and Lincolnshire dialect. Perhaps related to Gloucestershire dialect ding (“to work hard”).

Related phrases

dinkum oilfair dinkumstraight dinkumon level

More for "dinkum"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.