wink at
To turn a blind eye to (something); to corruptly ignore (some wrongdoing); to pretend not to have seen (something); to signal one's approval of (illicit activities) while maintaining the ability to plausibly deny knowing about it; to tolerate or tacitly encourage (inappropriate, immoral or illegal behavior).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The manager decided to wink at the employees taking extra long breaks.”
“I usually wink at my roommate's messy habits to avoid a big argument.”
“Teachers often wink at minor mistakes when students are still learning a new skill.”
“The local authorities often wink at small building violations if the owners promise to fix them eventually.”
“The security guards sometimes wink at fans who sneak into the front row when the stadium is not full.”
“The coach winks at his star player's bad behavior because the team needs to win the championship.”
“By choosing to wink at the questionable accounting practices of his subordinates, the director inadvertently allowed a culture of corruption to flourish within the firm.”
- 01
forty winks
A short sleep, an extra sleep, a nap.
- 02
in the wink of an eye
instantaneously, extremely quickly
- 03
nudge nudge wink wink
A phrase used to hint that the speaker is euphemistically referring to something else.
- 04
sleep a wink
To sleep at all.
- 05
tip the wink
To give (somebody) a hint or suggestion, as if by a wink; to ask or tell surreptitiously.
- 06
twenty winks
A very short sleep, half as long as forty winks.
Last updated August 10, 2026