wrinkle

Meaning

Noun

1. A small furrow, ridge or crease in an otherwise smooth surface.
2. A line or crease in the skin, especially when caused by age or fatigue.
3. A fault, imperfection or bug especially in a new system or product; typically, they will need to be ironed out.
4. A twist on something existing; a novel difference.

Verb

1. (transitive) To make wrinkles in; to cause to have wrinkles.
2. (intransitive) To pucker or become uneven or irregular.
3. (intransitive) To develop irreversibly wrinkles; to age.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To sneer (at).

Synonyms

crease

furrow

fold

crumple

pucker

crinkle

line

shrivel

shrink

rumple

knit

wrinkled

ruck

ruckle

wrinkle up

wizen

corrugate

become wrinkled

pleat

seam

wither

contract

wilt

crisp

cockle

scrunch up

fault

error

draw

groove

crimple

ridge

purse

👛

screw up

parch

flaw

scrunch

failure

cringe

fade

coach

dry out

droop

cower

lap

kink

delicacies

corrugation

chamfer

blooper

Translations

ride

arruga

ruga

rider

rimpel

Runzel

Falte

grinza

arrugar

ρυτίδα

arrugarse

ζαρώνω

frons

sillon

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹɪŋkl̩/

Etymology

From Middle English wrinkle, wrynkel (“crease, fold, wrinkle”), from the verb (see below). Cognate with Dutch wrinkel (“wrinkle, crease”). Compare also Middle English runkel (“wrinkle”), from Old Norse hrukka (“wrinkle”), from Proto-Germanic *hrunkǭ (“wrinkle, crease”), whence also Old French fronce (“crooked smile, scowl, frown”), German Runzel (“wrinkle”).