Hinky Pinky: Hinky Pinkies with Answers and a Worksheet

Published Jan. 11, 2024

A hinky pinky is a riddle whose answer is a pair of rhyming, 2-syllable words. You can think of the hinky pinky as hink pink’s bigger, older brother. The only difference is that while a hink pink has one syllable per word, a hinky pinky has two. For example, what do you call an undependable cucumber soaked in vinegar? A fickle pickle!

Approximately 40-45% of words in the English language are disyllabic (having 2 syllables), which means that there are many more hinky pinkies than hink pinks (only 25-30% of English words are monosyllabic). So even though hinky pinkies have twice the syllables, you won’t have double-trouble finding-rhyming little-riddles that fit this category 🤓.

Hinky Pinkies can be a great exercise for practicing synonyms and word association, and they make an excellent vocabulary building activity. It’s pretty easy to create your own hinky pinky riddles. Start with the rhyming word pair, then create a clever (not too hard but not too easy) definition/clue. Here are some examples to get you started.

Hinky Pinky Examples

Hinky pinky: What do you call a mythical serpent’s drinking vessel?

Answer: dragon flagon

Hinky pinky: What do you call a magical iguana?

Answer: wizard lizard

Hinky pinky: What do you call a cow war?

Answer: cattle battle

Hinky pinky: What do you call a strong interest in clothing?

Answer: fashion passion

Hinky pinky: What do you call a subterranean mammal driver?

Answer: gopher chauffeur

Hinky pinky: What do you call a talkative pet rodent?

Answer: verbal gerbil

Hinky pinky: What do you call a yellow, unnerved condiment?

Answer: flustered mustard

Hinky Pinky Worksheet with Answers

We hope you enjoyed solving these hinky pinkies! For a challenge, try inventing your own hinky pinky riddles or have your students create their own. If you’re looking for a downloadable, printable worksheet for your students, we’ve got you covered.

Check out our home page for more information on all things hink pink. If you’re looking for more classroom brain teasers, see our Ultimate Guide to Challenging Riddles with Answers, which covers everything from kindergarten riddles to challenging daily riddles for adults.