whimsical

adjective whim·si·cal \ ˈhwim-zi-kəl , ˈwim- \

|Updated on: 16 Aug 2018

Examples: whimsical in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Trace whimsical Back to the 16th Century

Definition of whimsical

1 a : resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice; especially : lightly fanciful

whimsical decorations

b : subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change

2 : full of, actuated by, or exhibiting whims

—

whimsicality

play \ˌhwim-zə-ˈka-lə-tē, ˌwim-\ noun

—

whimsically

play \ˈhwim-zi-k(ə-)lē, ˈwim-\ adverb

—

whimsicalness

play \ˈhwim-zi-kəl-nəs, ˈwim-\ noun

See whimsical defined for English-language learners

See whimsical defined for kids

whimsical was our Word of the Day on 01/19/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of whimsical in a Sentence

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
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
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
She has a whimsical sense of humor.
it's hard to make plans with such a whimsical best friend

Recent Examples of whimsical from the Web

Gadsby’s delivery, throughout the Netflix special, is both whimsical and droll.

— rachel syme, The New Republic, "Nanette Rewrites the History of Art," 3 July 2018
For this year's show, Fondation Maeght served as a whimsical and unpredictable playhouse.

— mara balagtas, Condé Nast Traveler, "Louis Vuitton's Cruise 2019 Show Took Over the French Riviera's Modern Art Haven," 29 May 2018
Powered by the Orange Show Center for Visionary Arts, the wide array of whimsical and unique vehicles rolled down Smith Street and showed off the wild imaginations of this year's participants.

— daniela sternitzky-di napoli, Houston Chronicle, "Houston's annual Art Car Parade rolls through downtown," 14 Apr. 2018
The notion that armies of, say, Belgian tennis fans and Argentine supporters will converge on Singapore smudges the line between whimsical and delusional.

— jon wertheim, SI.com, "Mailbag: Did David Ferrer’s Davis Cup Triumph Doom ITF Proposal for Revamp?," 11 Apr. 2018
Driving along Linden Lane and happening upon Forest Glen is like falling into a whimsical picture book.

— john kelly, Washington Post, "Answer Man visits the National Park Seminary in Forest Glen, Md.," 24 Feb. 2018
The décor is whimsical, with Midcentury Modern and Art Deco furniture, a liberal dose of animal prints and pinup-girl calendars from the 1940s and 50s.

— candace taylor, WSJ, "Inside the Many, Many Homes of This Jewelry Billionaire," 12 July 2018
The look juxtaposes a polished, suit-wearing Jackie Kennedy aura with that of an otherworldly creature: Technicolor, whimsical, and utterly bizarre.

— zoe harris, Marie Claire, "Why Jeremy's Scott New Moschino Campaign Is Being Described as Distasteful," 26 June 2018
They have been painstakingly painted — some with whimsical designs of cartoon characters, others with landscapes that would make the Old Masters proud — with the hope that someone will find them and then rehide them for someone else to find.

— craig webb, ajc, "Painted rocks hidden in Ohio are finding their way around the world," 8 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whimsical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Trace whimsical Back to the 16th Century

As you may have guessed, the words whimsical, whim, and whimsy are related. All three ultimately derive from the word whim-wham ("a whimsical object" or "a whim"), which is of unknown origin and dates to at least 1500. Whimsy was the first of the three to spin off from whim-wham, debuting in print in 1605. English speakers then added the adjective suffix -ical to whimsy to create whimsical, dating from 1653. Whim, which came about as a shortened version of whim-wham, appeared as early as 1641 in a sense that is now obsolete, but its current sense of "a sudden wish, desire, or change of mind" didn't appear in print until 1686.