hinting
Dropping veiled clues
Hinting is suggesting something indirectly rather than stating it outright.
Someone hinting at a surprise doesn't reveal it but drops clues: She kept hinting that something big was coming.
Hinting can be playful or evasive, letting the listener piece things together: He was hinting that he wanted to leave, but she didn't take the hint.
Idea proposed for consideration
- insinuationIndirect, usually negative suggestion
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
- allusionIndirect reference to something
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
subtext · connotation · undertone · overtone · nuance · inference · intimation · inkling
Solving aid
- tipEnd or gratuity
- pointerReference to memory location
- leadDense metal, symbol Pb
- breadcrumbFragment of baked grain
trail · foreshadowing · giveaway · telltale · trace · glimpse · preview · foretaste
Communicative body movement
signal · pointing · motioning · beckoning · indicating · prompting · tipping off · alerting
suggestion
Idea proposed for consideration
- insinuationIndirect, usually negative suggestion
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
- allusionIndirect reference to something
implication · subtext · connotation · undertone · overtone · nuance · inference · intimation · inkling · veiled
clue
Solving aid
breadcrumb · trail · foreshadowing · giveaway · telltale · trace · glimpse · preview · foretaste · premonition
gesture
Communicative body movement
cue · signal · pointing · motioning · beckoning · indicating · prompting · tipping off · alerting · flagging
suggestion
Idea proposed for consideration
- recommendationAdvised course of action
- tipEnd or gratuity
- guidanceAdvice for decisions
counsel · prompting · steering · directing · proposing · urging · encouraging · coaching · mentoring · prodding
- pragmaticspresupposition, context, inference, locution, pragmatics
- partial actionsstarting, beginning, attempting, trying, sampling
- indirectnesscircumlocution, euphemism, hedging, implication, implying
- subtexthidden meaning, implied meaning, veiled meaning, subtext, innuendo
- speech actsspeaking, talking, uttering, pronouncement, locution
- conversation tacticsactive listening, mirroring, small talk, deflection, changing subject
hintingdeclaring
Formally stating something
announcing · proclaiming · spelling out · asserting · articulating
hintingrevealing
Making known what's hidden
disclosing · exposing · divulging · confessing · laying bare