What does dinged mean?
"Dinged" is the past tense and past participle of the verb "ding," an informal English word with two main strands of meaning. In its most concrete sense, it describes making a short, light ringing sound, such as a timer or bell that dinged to announce that food was ready. More commonly today, especially in American usage, it means to sustain or inflict a small dent, nick, or other minor blemish — a car door might be dinged in a parking lot, or a laptop dinged during travel. From this physical sense a figurative use has grown firmly established: people speak of a credit score being dinged, a résumé getting dinged by a typo, or a company's reputation being dinged by bad publicity, always implying a modest but real setback rather than serious harm. The word carries a casual, conversational register and a mildly negative connotation of small damage. Its brevity and vividness have made it a staple of everyday speech about cars, gadgets, grades, finances, and public image alike.
verbPast tense and past participle of 'ding': to make a light ringing sound, or (informally) to dent, nick, or otherwise cause minor damage to something.
- (of a past action) To have made a light metallic ringing sound.
- (informal) To have caused a minor dent or nick to an object, especially a vehicle or appliance.
- (informal, figurative) To have suffered a small but noticeable loss or setback, as of money, points, reputation, or standing.
"The shopping cart dinged the car door as it rolled past in the parking lot."
"The microwave dinged to signal that dinner was ready."
"He was careful not to park too close after his bumper got badly dinged last month."
Your credit score can get 'dinged' without anyone touching it — the word has quietly expanded from car doors to reputations, resumes, and bank accounts.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dinged
The verb "ding" arose in English as an imitative or onomatopoeic formation, echoing the sound of a light metallic ring; it appears in print from around the early nineteenth century. The sense of inflicting a small dent or nick developed later, apparently by association with the clinking impact that produces such a mark, and became especially common in American English during the twentieth century. Because the word is sound-imitative rather than descended from another language's root, it has no true foreign cognates, though similar echoic forms occur independently across Germanic languages.
Related word forms
How dinged is actually used
Predominantly informal, especially in the senses involving damage or figurative setbacks; common in American English. The figurative sense ('her application got dinged') is widespread in business, academic admissions, and consumer-finance contexts.
Easily confused with dinged
'Dinned' means repeated noisily or insistently (as a sound is dinning into one's ears), while 'dinged' refers to a small dent, nick, or ringing blow.