prink

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English prinken (“to wink, signal with the eye”), from prinke, prinche (“a wink, twinkling of the eye, momentary gesture”), from Old English princ (“a wink”). More at pry.

Verb

prink (third-person singular simple present prinks, present participle prinking, simple past and past participle prinked)

1. (obsolete or dialectal) to give a wink; to wink.

Etymology 2

Perhaps alteration (due to primp) of prank (“to deck, adorn”), from Middle English pranken (“to trim”), or from Middle Dutch prinken (“to deck for show, parade in fine apparel”). Cognate with Dutch pronken (“to flaunt”), German Prunk (“a show, parade, splendour”), Danish and Swedish prunk.

Noun

prink (plural prinks)

1. the act of prinking
   • 2006, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women:

     [...] And does my hair look very bad?", said Meg, as she turned from the glass in Mrs. Gardiner's dressing room after a prolonged prink.

Verb

prink (third-person singular simple present prinks, present participle prinking, simple past and past participle prinked)

1. to look, gaze
2. to dress finely, primp
3. to strut, put on pompous airs, be pretentious

Synonyms

• prank