wimp
noun
a weak, ineffectual, timid person.
wimp
1 American
[wimp]
/ wɪmp /
noun
Informal.
-
wimps
plural
verb phrase
WIMP
2
American
[wimp]
/ wɪmp /
noun
wimp
1
British
/ wɪmp /
noun
WIMP
2
British
/ wɪmp /
acronym
-
windows, icons, menus ( or mice), pointers: denoting a type of user-friendly screen display used on small computers
a WIMP system
-
physics weakly interacting massive particle
WIMP
Scientific
/ wĭmp /
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of wimp1
An Americanism dating back to 1915–20; origin uncertain; cf. whimper
Origin of WIMP2
1985–90; W(eakly) I(nteracting) M(assive) P(article)
Explanation
A wimp is someone who's fearful or weak. If you don't want to ride the roller coaster, you don't have to — don't let yourself be talked into it just because you're worried your friends will call you a wimp. Wimp is an informal, derogatory way to refer to someone who's nervous or unadventurous, like calling them a "chicken" or "crybaby." And when you wimp out, you don't follow through on something because you're too scared: "I didn't mean to wimp out, but when I got up there, I changed my mind about bungee jumping." Experts aren't sure about the origin of wimp but think it may be connected to whimper, "cry softly and fearfully."
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:
Stripped of his invulnerability, Homelander wilts into a bawling wimp, begging for his life on his knees.
From Salon ● May 24, 2026
Tell me you’re not a wimp without telling me you’re not a wimp.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
He reacted and Scarlett "jokingly" called him a wimp, Ms Hall says.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2025
It’s a tough assignment for a self-described wimp who ceaselessly cites his own shortcomings: bad grades, a flabby torso, a smarmy personality.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
Inkling promised it would work if I’d just commit myself and not wimp out.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
In 2022, Mahapatra co-authored another study examining multiple approaches to finding a WIMP, including direct detection, indirect detection and collider searches.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 8, 2026
One of the leading theories about dark matter is that it's composed of a type of particle known as a WIMP, or Weakly Interacting Massive Particle.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2023
The idea of a weakly interacting massive particle, or WIMP, has been around for quite some time.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2014
The hopes of detecting dark matter are clouded by the possibility that it might not be a WIMP.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 2, 2014
At the Center for Particle Astrophysics at Berkeley, director Bernard Sadoulet and his colleagues are putting the final touches on a contraption designed to catch a WIMP.
From Time Magazine Archive
The kind of ace who harks back to a time when “bullpen days” didn’t exist, relieving was for wimps and starters were expected to serve as their own closers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
Quoting the investor Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street, she said "lunch is for wimps".
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2024
Leftovers from the Big Bang, wimps are invisible and slow, compared with the speed of light, and can only be detected through their gravitational effect on other objects.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
Davis was so powerful he even stymied a crowd that wore “Gold Blooded” T-shirts but acted more like wimps.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2023
It seemed that the man was on the lookout for pretenders, for kids who didn’t really want to be there, for wimps.
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
