Hint
Hint noun - A slight or indirect pointing to something (as a solution or explanation).
Usage example: can't you give me some hint as to where you're taking me?
Lead is a synonym for hint in indication topic. In some cases you can use "Lead" instead the word "Hint" as a noun or a verb.
Lead
Lead noun - A piece of advice or useful information especially from an expert.
Usage example: my sister got a lead on the job opening from her neighbor, who is the human resources director for the company
Hint is a synonym for lead in clue topic. You can use "Hint" instead the word "Lead" as a noun or a verb.
Mutual synonyms
How words are described
| good | good hint | good lead |
| nice | nice hint | nice lead |
| clear | clear hint | clear lead |
| common | common hint | common lead |
| Other adjectives: direct, single, obvious, strong, actual, real, massive, large, big, huge, little, slight, main, important, early, possible, occasional, comic, previous. | ||
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
- If the addressee doesn't take the hint, this may lead to an Unrequited Love Lasts Forever situation.
Source: "You're Not My Type" - Spoofed in the final episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, where the guys riffed Danger: Diabolik; when the film's female lead outright points out what she wants for her birthday, Crow quips "Typical guy, didn't take the hint."
Source: Hint Dropping -
Hits on the uninterested female lead within the first twenty minutes of the movie, and can't seem to take a hint.
Cite this Source
Lead and Hint. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/hint/lead
Hint & Lead. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/hint/lead>.
Lead or Hint. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/hint/lead.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "hint" and "lead" have occurred on timeline