Synonyms

wimpy

American

[wim-pee] / ˈwɪm pi /

Or wimpish

adjective

wimpier, wimpiest

of, relating to, or characteristic of a wimp.

Other Word Forms

wimpiness noun

Etymology

Origin of wimpy

First recorded in 1965–70; wimp + -y ¹

Explanation

Someone who's wimpy is extremely ineffective, weak, or fearful. You might feel wimpy about declining an invitation to jump on your friend's snowmobile without a helmet, but that's actually a wise decision. This informal adjective is a derogatory way to describe a cowardly or physically frail person. "Don't be such a wimpy kid," your older sister might say, "go ahead and jump off the high dive!" Most experts trace wimpy back to the comic strip character J. Wellington Wimpy. Known simply as Wimpy, he was Popeye's hamburger-loving, soft-spoken, and slightly cowardly sidekick.

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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.

It would be tragic if it weren’t so wimpy.

From Slate • Feb. 14, 2025

Kinney talked about the holiday special, which is now streaming, the process of adapting his work for the screen, working with Disney and what’s next for everybody’s favorite wimpy kid.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2023

At first people thought I was being a bit wimpy or that I just wanted the day off school.

From BBC • Oct. 16, 2023

“He is a great American. He is very strong in his belief system, and he is not a wimpy person.”

From Seattle Times • Sep. 3, 2023

He looked uncertainly at the Yoo-hoo bottle before taking a wimpy sort of sip and shoving the bottle back my way.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023