mimsy

/ ˈmɪmzɪ /

adjective

1. prim, underwhelming, and ineffectual

Word History and Origins

Origin of mimsy¹

C19: a blend of _miserable and _flimsy , coined by Lewis _Carroll

Example Sentences

Mimsy Barber, posting on Spotted: Kirk Hallam Facebook page, said: "Is it Download you can hear around Kirk Hallam this evening, or is it someone living out their rock and roll dreams on the back garden?"

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“You can’t do it by being mimsy.”

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Moore and Henry Kuttner’s classic science fiction story, “Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” in which Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” opens a portal to other times and dimensions.

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The story goes that this has turned us all into eternal babies, coddling us, protecting us from “micro aggressions” and signalling an erosion of individual grit and autonomy in favour of mimsy whining.

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Chance writes largely from the points of view of the family’s happy dogs — two corgis named Dookie and Lady Jane, three Labradors named Mimsy, Stiffy and Scrummy, a Tibetan lion dog named Choo-choo, a golden retriever named Judy and a cocker spaniel named Ben — pausing only to praise the owners for being “not merely people who love dogs but warmhearted, human people who, understanding their animals, are therefore understood by them in return.”

Read more on New York Times