noun / verb
dimple
DIM-pul/ˈdɪmpl/
A small hollow in a cheek or other surface, or to form such a hollow.
A dimple appears in his cheek as he smiles.
Etymology
The word may go back to an Old English term for a pothole, but that ancestry is uncertain. Its early recorded use describes a small bodily dent, especially one produced in the cheek by smiling.
In context
when her lips parted in a smile, a dimple of the most distracting charm twinkled upon her left cheek.
More examples
- Small dimples cover the golf ball's surface.
- Raindrops dimple the still water.
- His smile dimples both cheeks.
Forms
dimple · dimples · dimpled · dimpling
Similar words
- indentation
- An indentation is any inward depression; a dimple is usually small and rounded.
- pit
- A pit is a hollow or depression; a dimple suggests a smaller, often rounded indentation.