Walter Mitty

American  

noun

plural

Walter Mittys

1. an ordinary, timid person who is given to adventurous and self-aggrandizing daydreams or secret plans as a way of glamorizing a humdrum life.

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Walter Mitty Idioms  

1. A person, generally quite ordinary or ineffectual, who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs. For example, He's a Walter Mitty about riding in a rodeo but is actually afraid of horses. This term comes from James Thurber's short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939), describing just such a character.

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Other Word Forms

• Walter Mittyish adjective

Etymology

Origin of Walter Mitty

From the title character of James Thurber's short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1939)

Example Sentences

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

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

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025

In short, “Toes” is a Walter Mitty story — a shaggy-dog tale about a man whose wild daydreams are at once a coping strategy and a revelation of his character.

From Washington Post • Sep. 4, 2022

In her work for the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Greene used antique patterns to outfit Ben Stiller’s character in a 1940s playsuit.

From The Verge • Jun. 20, 2022

“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

Related Words

• idealist