whimsical
Americanadjective
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spontaneously fanciful or playful
-
given to whims; capricious
-
quaint, unusual, or fantastic
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of whimsical
Explanation
Whimsical means full of or characterized by whims, which are odd ideas that usually occur to you very suddenly. If you decide at the last minute to fly to Europe, you could say you went there on a whim. Whimsical can also mean tending toward odd or unpredictable behavior. Both whimsical and whim are derived from an earlier English word whim-wham, which is of unknown origin. Whim-wham had about the same meaning as whim, but could also refer to an odd object or piece of clothing.
Vocabulary lists containing whimsical
Grade 10, List 5
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The Handmaid's Tale
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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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.
Muriel Spark took a break from writing novels to dream up a whimsical tale of a clever timepiece.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Its whimsical grandiosity practically invites us to use the passive voice, a kind of verbal genuflection.”
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
"There's been a shift lately in adding whimsical elements to your everyday, with things like sprinkles on matcha, yoghurt bowls and desserts."
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
“Gregory has always been the more grounded, measured type. And then Janine is naturally more whimsical, optimistic and quirky, so she carried the bigger, more expressive visual in the moment,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Hatsue had been taken from his life by history, because history was whimsical and immune to private yearnings.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
