A thermal ink transfer laminate wherein an ink design is transferred from a carrier support to an article, typically paper, by application of a thermal printing element to the nontransfer side of the carrier. The thermal ink transfer laminate is composed of a carrier support of paper or plastic film overcoated on one side with a heat sensitive ink coating. The heat sensitive ink coating is composed of a hot melt mix containing a coloring agent, a wax binder, and a resin binder.The coloring agent contains a dye dispersed in an unsaturated fatty acid medium. The wax binder contains a paraffin and microcrystalline wax. The coloring agent in combination with the wax binder greatly facilitates attainment of a drastic drop in melt viscosity of the design layer during thermal transfer onto a receiving article. The degree of transfer attained is virtually complete resulting in a transferred image of exceedingly high image clarity and definition. The heat sensitive coating permeates fibrous receiving articles during thermal transfer resulting in a nonraised, firmly anchored abrasion-resistent transferred image.