whimsy — English Dictionary

whimsy
Pronunciations (3)
  • /ˈwɪmzi/
  • /ˈʍɪmzi/
  • ˈwɪmzi

Noun

  1. A quaint and fanciful idea; a whim; playfully odd behaviour.

    Usage
    • Uncountable
    • usually
    Examples
    More examples (3)

    […] Take heed of filling their [i.e., children's] heads with VVhimzies, and unprofitable Notions; for this vvill ſooner learn them to be malepert and proud, than ſober and humble.

    These days! where e'en th' extravagance of poetry, / Is at a loss for figures to express / Men's folly, whimsies, and inconstancy, / And by a faint description makes them less.

    [A]ll the ridiculous and extravagant ſhapes that can be imagin'd, all the fancies and whimſies of Poets and Painters and Ægyptian Idolaters, if ſo be they are conſiſtent with Life and Propagation, would be now actually in Being, if our Atheiſt's Notion were true: […]

    Egad, if her Majeſty has often theſe VVhimſies, I ſhall petition the Court to build a Bridge over the River, or let me reſign my Employment.

    More examples (1)

    It’s a lovely sequence cut too short because the show seems afraid to give itself over to romance and whimsy and wistfulness when it has wedgie jokes to deliver.

    […] but in effect it seemed to have heaps of Amelie-style whimsy but no deeper unity or coherence.

  2. An impulsive, illogical or capricious character.

    Usage
    • Uncountable
    • usually
  3. A whim (capstan or vertical drum).

    Usage
    • Countable
    • usually
  4. A jigsaw puzzle piece that has been cut into a recognizable shape, as if on a whim; often the shape is representative of the theme of the image used for the puzzle.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • usually
    Examples

    "Dori, you have to solve this puzzle!" / "Sure, right away doctor. Quality construction … clean edges. Oh, a whimsy!"

  5. The support that protects a finished piece as it is detached from a punty.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • usually

Verb

  1. To fill with whimsies or whims; to make fantastic; to craze.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    A wantonneſſe in wealth, methinks I agree not with, / Tis ſuch a trouble to be married too, / And have a thouſand things of great importance, / Jewells and plates, and fooleries moleſt mee, / To have a mans brains whimſied with his wealth: […]

Adjective

  1. Synonym of whimsical.

    Examples

    Whimsiest of the fairy brood, I cannot scold you if I would

    […] and if in a whimsy mood I choose to read the opening chapters last, and the closing chapters first, […]

Noun

  1. an odd or fanciful or capricious idea

    Broader terms
    Examples

    the theatrical notion of disguise is associated with disaster in his stories

    he had a whimsy about flying to the moon

    More examples (1)

    whimsy can be humorous to someone with time to enjoy it

  2. the trait of acting unpredictably and more from whim or caprice than from reason or judgment

    Examples

    I despair at the flightiness and whimsicality of my memory

Word forms
whimsieswhimseywhimsieswhimsyingwhimsiedwhimsiedwhimsierwhimsiest

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