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Mitty

American  
[mit-ee] / ˈmɪt i /

noun

  1. Walter Mitty.


Mitty British  
/ ˈmɪtɪ /

noun

    1. a fictional character given to grand and elaborate fantasies; daydreamer

    2. ( as modifier )

      a Walter Mitty character

      a Mitty act

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of Mitty

C20: from a short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939), by James Thurber

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:

Those behind the Walter Mitty Hunters Club would not speak to me directly - or tell me who they are - but in message exchanges told me they were all ex-service personnel.

From BBC Jan. 21, 2026

For more than a decade, a group of anonymous veterans known as the Walter Mitty Hunters Club say they have made it their mission to help expose frauds posing as military service men or women.

From BBC Jan. 21, 2026

Archbishop Mitty missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 10, 2026

“Snoopy, for example, is said to be an ‘extrovert beagle with a Walter Mitty complex.’

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 23, 2025

“To aging Walter Mitty types like myself, Dick Bass was an inspiration,” Seaborn Beck Weathers explained in a thick East Texas twang during the trek to Everest Base Camp last April.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

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