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:
As I walked into the medical clinic for my blood test, all I could think about was how to avoid looking like a wimp on camera.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025
Tell me you’re not a wimp without telling me you’re not a wimp.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 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
"You'll go down as a wimp," Trump told Pence the morning of Jan.6, according to the book.
From Salon ● Nov. 14, 2022
And if the man detected a wimp, what would he do?
From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli
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
Many supersymmetry theories predict the lightest superpartner would be a stable, neutral, weakly interacting particle — that is, a WIMP.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2016
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
This is the new state of play in college sports: Rebuilding is for wimps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
Quoting the investor Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street, she said "lunch is for wimps".
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 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
Sir Mix-a-Lot has a couple of choice words for the folks out there in social media land calling Seattleites weather wimps.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 28, 2021
When I heard about it, I was proud, because it showed we weren’t wimps.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
