high jinks

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An old Scottish parlour game in which people were chosen, usually by throwing dice, to perform some humorous act or drink a large amount of an alcoholic beverage, with a forfeit if they were unable to do so.
  2. Boisterous activity or behaviour; lively fun.
  3. Tricky or waggish behaviour; mischief.

Pronunciation

/ˈhaɪ d͡ʒɪŋks/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-high jinks.wav

Word forms

high jinks highjinks hijinks hi-jinks hijinx hi-jinx hijinxs

Etymology

Probably related to jink (“(verb) to make a quick evasive turn; to whirl about when dancing, to dance; (noun) a quick evasive turn”), probably originally onomatopoeic, expressing quick movement.

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.