flimsy
Americanadjective
-
flimsier,
comparative
-
flimsiest
superlative
noun
-
flimsies
plural
-
a thin kind of paper, especially for use in making several copies at a time of an article, telegraphic dispatch, or the like, as in newspaper work.
-
a copy of a report or dispatch on such paper.
adjective
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not strong or substantial; fragile
a flimsy building
-
light and thin
a flimsy dress
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unconvincing or inadequate; weak
a flimsy excuse
noun
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thin paper used for making carbon copies of a letter, etc
-
a copy made on such paper
-
a slang word for banknote
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of flimsy
1695–1705; flim- (perhaps metathetic variant of film ) + -sy
Explanation
You can describe weak, thin, and fragile things as flimsy. Onion smells are strong, onion skins are flimsy. Blaming onions for making you cry during a sad movie, that's a flimsy excuse, when there are no onions in the theater. A flimsy object and a flimsy objection or excuse are both without weight and are easy to knock down. You can see right through a flimsy curtain, and you can see right through a flimsy lie. If a tent or house of cards is flimsy, it will fall down with a slight breeze, and if your story isn't convincing anyone, it's probably weak and flimsy enough to flatten, too.
Vocabulary lists containing flimsy
List 6
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The Cay
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Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
According to testimony from the two survivors, their flimsy boat began to deflate and take on water after several hours at sea.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Still fragile and sickly, he was dismissed by one rival, Agrippa relates, as “a flimsy scrap of a man hiding behind an enormous name.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
But the characterizations are too flimsy, the world only moderately textured.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
So the possibility that A.I. might help is admittedly a flimsy source of comfort.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
For six months, the 586th Regiment had been defending strategic positions in their dangerous solo Yak fighters and the 588th Regiment had been harassing German troops with bombs dropped from their flimsy Po-2s.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Army lieutenant in trackman's flimsies stepped into the discus ring.
From Time Magazine Archive
Otto, melodramatically helped by various Black-Fronters, fled the country, started his years of writing and smuggling through revolutionary flimsies and stickers.
From Time Magazine Archive
"I'd like to know how many flimsies there are in that packet," said Capel.
From Tom Gerrard by Louis Becke
If there are no flimsies, the leaf opposite a plate often shows a set-off from it and is sometimes specially badly foxed.
From Fine Books by Alfred W. (Alfred William) Pollard
The grey editor with a gruff voice threw over a bundle of flimsies.
From The Green Rust by Edgar Wallace
However, that argument too, is looking flimsier given how expensive AI models are to build for relatively little payoff.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Many have been enduring temperatures well below freezing in flimsier tent-like units with blue plastic sheeting on the outside and a quilted cotton lining inside.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
In fact, she didn’t always rap in her now recognizable deep, rich timbre: Her 2019 mixtape, “Most Likely Up Next,” features a higher, flimsier register, though sparks of her relentless energy start to shine through.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 26, 2023
They’re the closest thing Asus has to a MacBook Air competitor, with chassis that are slightly flimsier, touchpads with fancier features, and price tags that are a bit less intimidating.
From The Verge ● Aug. 15, 2022
The old mansion still stands deep within this property, though most of the flimsier structures around it have been swallowed by time and the elements.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
Suspects were swept up in Afghanistan or Pakistan, often on the flimsiest of tip-offs.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
But it’s just as much about journalistic malpractice, ethical outrages and the besmearing of reputations on the flimsiest of evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
Corbet’s desire to stick it to the man takes over the film’s last stretch, which is also its flimsiest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
“I would certainly not be opting to have this flimsiest of the cases go first,” Diamond said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2023
I came in late, repeatedly and with the flimsiest of excuses; made shockingly incorrect change; even misshelved things on purpose, stocking lotions among laxatives and birth control with baby shampoo.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
