flimsy

American  

[flim-zee] / ˈflɪm zi /

adjective

• flimsier,
  comparative
• flimsiest
  superlative

1. without material strength or solidity.

   a flimsy fabric; a flimsy structure.

   Synonyms:

   unsteady, unstable, weak, shoddy

   Antonyms:

   sturdy

2. weak; inadequate; not effective or convincing.

   a flimsy excuse.

   Synonyms:

   vague, lame, unconvincing

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noun

• flimsies
  plural

1. 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.

2. a copy of a report or dispatch on such paper.

flimsy British  

/ ˈflɪmzɪ /

adjective

1. not strong or substantial; fragile

   a flimsy building

2. light and thin

   a flimsy dress

3. unconvincing or inadequate; weak

   a flimsy excuse

---

noun

1. thin paper used for making carbon copies of a letter, etc

2. a copy made on such paper

3. a slang word for banknote

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• flimsiness
  noun
• flimsily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• flimsies
  plural

Adjectives

• flimsier
  comparative
• flimsiest
  superlative

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flimsy flimsies flimsier flimsiest

Just inside the door, there was a flimsy mannequin with the face of a much younger, slimmer Trump, wearing a red “Trump 2028” hat, a dark suit, and a signature red tie.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

In dirty t-shirts and flimsy sandals, hundreds of unaccompanied minors slept outdoors in a disused industrial park in Ceuta after swimming to the Spanish territory from Morocco, AFP saw Saturday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

The small boats involved in Channel crossings can be overcrowded, too flimsy, and not everyone wears a life jacket, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Many apartment buildings have a flimsy first floor, propped up by skinny supports to accommodate carports, garages or storefronts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

My parents added flimsy privacy walls, cutting a big room in twos or threes, each the size of a walk-in closet.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

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

Army lieutenant in trackman's flimsies stepped into the discus ring.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was curious to see the contents of those press agent flimsies transcribed on the flaring columns as the livest news obtainable.

From The Whirligig of Time by Wayland Wells Williams

All are dressed in paper flimsies of various shapes and colours.

From A Cotswold Village by J. Arthur Gibbs

Then I could see something was concealed under the Lascar's flimsies.

From Old Junk by S. K. (Samuel Kerkham) Ratcliffe

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

“It gets turned into a piece of lace, he says. It gets turned into this much flimsier thing, a thing full of holes.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 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

Then they started snapping their jaws and barking and bashing into the flimsy bars of Duke’s even flimsier cage.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

Beijing has also accused Washington of citing “even the flimsiest connection” such as the use of an American bank to assert jurisdiction over transactions that don’t primarily involve the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

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

And in this modern era of ubiquitous social media and technology, when there’s the impulse to make people famous for even the flimsiest of reality-TV reasons?

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

We would hover over our circular dining table — the shape best suited for sharing dishes family-style — folding and chuckling over the flimsiest looking sui gao.

From Salon ● May 26, 2022

But my mother was loath to pass up even the flimsiest excuse for a celebration—she once invited friends over for our cockatiel’s birthday—in part because she loved to show off our house.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

Related Words

• chiffon
• decrepit
• feeble
• insubstantial
• rickety
• shaky
• tacky