Walter Mitty

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.

Other Word Forms

• Walter Mittyish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Walter Mitty¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

The attorney compared him to Walter Mitty, the character with the boring office job who escapes into elaborate imaginative worlds — a defense Sexton hated.

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Commander Murphy likened Khalife to the self-aggrandising fictional character Walter Mitty, who daydreamed about extraordinary personal triumphs.

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He was described as a "Walter Mitty" character who had changed his name several times and had 32 convictions over 15 years in three countries.

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"Interstellar used an ice glacier as a stand in for another planet and then there was Batman Begins, Game of Thrones and the Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Ben Stiller," he said.

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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.

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Related Words

• idealist