What does "pink" mean?
A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers.
Pink
/pɪŋk/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers.
- Grammar: pink is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: acme, acme of perfection, anarchist, anarchistic.
- Useful contrasts: bleach, colorless, decolorize.
- Usage evidence: I'm tickled pink about winning 10,000 yen at the horse races.
How to use "pink"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "pink" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "pink" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "pink" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "pink" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "pink" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "acme" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "pink", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers. countable, uncountable
"My new dress is a wonderful shade of pink."
- 2 The common minnow, Phoxinus phoxinus. regional
- 3 A narrow boat. obsolete
- 4 A small hole made by puncturing something, as with a rapier, dagger, or pinking iron.; A small hole or puncture made by a sharp, slender instrument such as a rapier, poniard or dagger, or (by extension) a bullet; a stab. obsolete
"At a great word she will her poynard draw, Looke for the pincke if once thou giue the lye."
- 5 Any of various lake pigments or dyes in yellow, yellowish green or brown shades, made with plant coloring and a metallic oxide base. historical, uncountable
"To make Dutch pink, boil the stems of woad in a solution of alum, and then mix the liquor with clay, marl, or chalk, which will become mixed with the colour of the decoction"
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 An operative of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. dated, derogatory, slang
- 7 a light shade of red wordnet
- 8 A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers.; Magenta, the colour evoked by red and blue light when combined. countable, uncountable
- 9 A young Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, before it becomes a smolt; a parr. regional
- 10 A small hole made by puncturing something, as with a rapier, dagger, or pinking iron.; A small hole or eyelet punched in a garment for decoration, as with a pinking iron; a scallop. obsolete
"Item,..for iiil* powdringis and pinkis to the sam goune, .xij s"
- 11 a person with mildly leftist political views wordnet
- 12 A color reminiscent of pinks, the flowers.; Pale red. countable, uncountable
- 13 any of various flowers of plants of the genus Dianthus cultivated for their fragrant flowers wordnet
- 14 Any of various flowers of that colour in the genus Dianthus, sometimes called carnations. countable, uncountable
"This garden in particular has a beautiful bed of pinks."
- 15 A perfect example; excellence, perfection; the embodiment of some quality. countable, dated, uncountable
"Your hat, madam, is the very pink of fashion."
- 16 Hunting pink; scarlet, as worn by hunters. countable, uncountable
"I had taken it for granted that there would be people ‘in pink’, but these enormous confident strangers overwhelmed me with the visible authenticity of their brick-red coats."
- 17 A huntsman. countable, uncountable
"The pinks stand about the inn-door lighting cigars and waiting to see us start, while their hacks are led up and down the market-place, on which the inn looks."
- 18 One of the colour balls used in snooker, coloured pink, with a value of 6 points. countable, uncountable
"Oh dear, he's left himself snookered behind the pink."
- 19 An unlettered and uncultured, but relatively prosperous, member of the middle classes; compare Babbitt, bourgeoisie. countable, slang, uncountable
- 20 Alternative form of pinko. alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable
"My own guess is that there are some pinks in the State Department and in other government departments and agencies, and of course they should be found and ousted; but it seems to me that this can be done without besmirching innocent people and without making such broadside charges that people will lose faith in all government."
- 21 The vagina or vulva. countable, slang, uncountable
"Then Eddie did what he calls, 'Two in the pink, one in the stink.' “I held up my right forefinger and middle finger and said, “Two.” Then I held up my ring finger and said “One. Two in the pussy, one in the ass.”"
Verb
- 1 To become pink in color, to redden. intransitive
"The woman’s pale skin pinked as she shook her head. “No. It’s out of my budget. Come on, Sammy”"
- 2 To decorate a piece of clothing or fabric by adding holes or by scalloping the fringe.
- 3 Of a motor car, to emit a high "pinking" noise, usually as a result of ill-set ignition timing for the fuel used (in a spark ignition engine).
- 4 To wink; to blink. obsolete
"A Hungry Fox that had got a Cock in his Eye, and could not tell how to come at him ; cast himself at his Length upon the Ground, and there he lay winking and pinking as if he had Sore Eyes."
- 5 cut in a zigzag pattern with pinking shears, in sewing wordnet
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 To turn (something) pink. transitive
"They are all nearly nude, pinked and bronzed by the sun."
- 7 To prick with a sword.
"‘Pugh!’ says she, ‘you have pinked a man in a duel, that's all.’"
- 8 Of a musical instrument, to sound a very high-pitched, short note.
"And then the record changed, a piano pinking high a Poulenc-like theme."
- 9 sound like a car engine that is firing too early wordnet
- 10 To turn (a topaz or other gemstone) pink by the application of heat. transitive
"Because heating is relatively easy to perform once one is trained to do it, it can be assumed that any pink topaz from Brazil, the gem’s main modern producer, is colored more by man than nature.[…] Relatively few stones from Brazil have this trace element in enough quantity for what dealers call “pinking.”"
- 11 To wound by irony, criticism, or ridicule.
"“Young man, if you have no authority, let me speak to someone who has! Put me through to Mr. Berquist.” The stooge suddenly lost his smile and Jubal thought gleefully that he had at last pinked him."
- 12 make light, repeated taps on a surface wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Having a colour between red and white; pale red.
- 2 Half-shut; winking. not-comparable, obsolete
"Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne! In thy vats our cares be drowned, With thy grapes our hairs be crowned."
- 3 Of a fox-hunter's jacket: scarlet.
- 4 Having conjunctivitis.
- 5 By comparison to red (communist), supportive of socialist ideas but not actually socialist or communist.
"The word "socialist" has so many connotations that it can cover almost anything from pink liberalism to red-red communism."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Relating to women or girls. informal
"pink-collar"
- 7 Relating to homosexuals as a group within society. informal
"the pink economy"
Adjective
- 1 of a light shade of red wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"I'm tickled pink about winning 10,000 yen at the horse races."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "pink"?
Common synonyms include: acme, acme of perfection, anarchist, anarchistic, anarcho-syndicalist, annatto.
How do you use "pink" in a sentence?
I'm tickled pink about winning 10,000 yen at the horse races.
How do you pronounce "pink"?
Pronounced /pɪŋk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch pinken (“blink”) or the English verb pink from the same source. Perhaps from the notion of the petals being pinked. An earlier word for similar flesh-like colors, mostly displaced by pink, was incarnation.
Etymology 2
Unknown. Some lexicographers suggest comparison to regional German Pinke (“minnow; small salmon”), but this is not widely accepted.
Etymology 3
Borrowed from Middle Dutch pincke. Compare French pinque.
Etymology 4
Probably ultimately imitative, or from Dutch pingelen (“to do fine needlework”) or Low German [Term?]; compare Low German pinken (“hit, peck”) and Pinke (“big needle”).
Etymology 5
Onomatopoeic. Compare ping.
Etymology 6
Borrowed from Dutch pinken.
Etymology 7
Unknown. Attested from the late 15th century.
Etymology 8
* As an English surname, from Old English pinca (“chaffinch”). This would not be a native Germanic inheritance as the expected form would be finc, thus probably borrowed or contaminated from Vulgar Latin *pincio (see French pinson) and its related parallels. * Also as an English surname, from rare Middle English pink (“something small”), presumably related to pinkie. * As a German occupational surname for a blacksmith, from imitative pink(e)pank, after the sound of hammering. * As a Lower Sorbian surname, variant of Pjeńk, see Penk.
Etymology 9
Shortening.