whimsical

whim·si·cal

adjective \ˈhwim-zi-kəl, ˈwim-\

Definition of WHIMSICAL

1

: full of, actuated by, or exhibiting whims (see whim))

2

a : resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice; especially : lightly fanciful <whimsical decorations>

b : subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change

— whim·si·cal·i·ty \ˌhwim-zə-ˈka-lə-tē, ˌwim-\ noun

— whim·si·cal·ly \ˈhwim-zi-k(ə-)lē, ˈwim-\ adverb

— whim·si·cal·ness \-kəl-nəs\ noun

Examples of WHIMSICAL

1. She has a whimsical sense of humor.
2. <it's hard to make plans with such a whimsical best friend>
3. You can practically taste the tropics in these whimsical doughnuts. Ripe bananas, toasted coconut and your favorite rum transform traditional doughnuts into paradisiacal ones. —Janice Wald Henderson, Chocolatier, March 2001
4. Unlike the broad slapstick humor of Musical Mose and other early Herriman strips, Krazy Kat was gentle, fey, and whimsical. —Jeet Heer, Lingua Franca, September 2001
5. In the whimsical linguistics of theoretical physics, the “naked” electron is an imaginary object cut off from the influences of the field, whereas a “dressed” electron carries the imprint of the universe, but it is all buried in extremely tiny modifications to its bare properties. —Leon Lederman et al., The God Particle, 1993

Origin of WHIMSICAL

whimsy

First Known Use: 1653

Related to WHIMSICAL

Synonyms

capricious, freakish, impulsive

Related Words

impetuous, mercurial, moody, temperamental, volatile; crankish, eccentric, flaky, quirky; arbitrary, erratic, fickle, inconstant, irregular, shaky, willful (or wilful); impractical, quixotic, quixotical, romantic, unrealistic, utopian, visionary

Near Antonyms

equable; down-to-earth, earthy, hard-boiled, hardheaded, levelheaded, matter-of-fact, practical, pragmatic (also pragmatical), reasonable, sensible, tough-minded; commonsensical, grounded, logical, no-nonsense, rational, sane, sober, sobersided, sound; fast, fixed, hard-and-fast, immutable, inflexible, invariable, unalterable, unbending, unchangeable uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding; changeless, constant, established, set, settled, stable, steadfast, steady, unchanging, unvarying