inkling vs innuendo

inkling

noun
  • Usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given. 

  • Often preceded by forms of to get or to have: an imprecise idea or slight knowledge of something; a suspicion. 

  • A desire, an inclination. 

innuendo

noun
  • A derogatory hint or reference to a person or thing. An implication, intimation or insinuation. 

  • Part of a pleading in cases of libel and slander, pointing out what and who was meant by the libellous matter or description. 

  • She made a devious innuendo about her husband, who was embarrassed. 

  • A rhetorical device with an omitted, but obvious conclusion, made to increase the force of an argument. 

verb
  • To interpret (something libellous or slanderous) in terms of what was implied. 

How often have the words inkling and innuendo occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )