whimsy
Americannoun
-
whimsies
plural
noun
-
a capricious idea or notion
-
light or fanciful humour
-
something quaint or unusual
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of whimsy
First recorded in 1595–1605; whim(-wham) + -sy
Explanation
Whimsy is what a person who's a dreamer and out of step with the real world might have lots of. People who are full of whimsy are odd, but often fanciful and lovely, like Harry Potter's friend Luna Lovegood. Whimsy is also a whim — something you do just because you want to. If you find a postcard of Alaska and take that as a reason to move there, that could qualify as whimsy. Whimsy is irrational, but playful. If you decorate your house with whimsy, you may have a wall decorated with butterflies and giant daisies with googly eyes, and a couch trimmed with peacock feathers and vinyl. It's amusing and witty, and you’re a master of whimsy.
Vocabulary lists containing whimsy
Kindred
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Swing
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"All That" by David Foster Wallace
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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.
See Examples For:
The result is pure, rich excess — a fashion documentary unlike any other, that manages to capture the transient joy and whimsy of an era where fashion was allowed to be, dare I say, fun.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
At least one major corporation sees value in bringing whimsy to the payment process too.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
“It has a lot of whimsy in it, but it also has a balance of light and dark in terms of how it makes you feel.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Chanel's artistic director Matthieu Blazy leant into the world of whimsy and fantasy with his haute couture collection.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
In the early days there had been no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny to decorate the sacrilege, piety, or greedy whimsy of Milagro’s various religious seasons.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Briscoe, who teaches at Morgan State University in Baltimore, contrasts his comics-derived whimsies with realistic depictions of Black men and women.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023
But she’s best known as the artist who was the driving force behind Disneyland staple “It’s a Small World,” still today a gleeful diorama dedicated to childlike whimsies from across the globe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2022
When our debates are no longer resolved by deliberation over reasons, then the whimsies of power will determine the outcome.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 18, 2017
And she in no way, despite her much-expressed gratitude to Donald Davidson, her mentor at Vanderbilt, followed the Agrarians down the path of I’ll Take My Stand and their other neo-Confederate whimsies.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2014
And I am but a servant to her wishes and whimsies.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
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.
