variants or hanky
as in handkerchief
a small, often square piece of material that is used for personal hygiene purposes held a hankie up to his nose and blew vigorously

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hankie Related: Best Pie Recipes for Any Occasion 3 Handkerchief Bunting Kids will love helping set the mood for merriment by folding vintage hankies in half diagonally and hanging them on lengths of sturdy jute twine using small wooden clothespins. Charlyne Mattox, Country Living, 24 June 2023 Threads fly and snag over the grid of hankies, and become their own calligraphy. Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Apr. 2023 Titanic remains a four-hankie crowd-pleaser par excellence, elevating a paper-thin love story to the scale of myth by placing it against the backdrop of incalculable human tragedy. A.a. Dowd, Chron, 9 Feb. 2023 Pulling a hankie out To wipe your brow surreptitiously. Hannah Aizenman, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2023 See All Example Sentences for hankie
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hankie
handkerchief
Noun
  • Next to her, someone’s head was bandaged with someone else’s handkerchief and bled through it immediately.
    Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025
  • Lance Jimenez, a Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator, said the explosive was made from a 40-ounce Olde English 800 malt liquor bottle and a silky designer handkerchief.
    MICHAEL R. SISAK, Arkansas Online, 30 May 2025

Cite this Entry

“Hankie.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hankie. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.

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