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.

Get therapy, even if you once thought it was a little wimpy.

From Slate • Jan. 28, 2024

The color is a deep festive red too — nothing washed out or wimpy — and it sure makes it easier to spot your phone in a dark purse or across the room.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 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

“It ain’t wimpy, that’s for sure,” he said in a 2014 documentary about him.

From New York Times • May 10, 2023

I sat down on the ground and wondered if it would be overly wimpy to cry in the lobby of an apartment building in Corona.

From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

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