Definition of whimsical
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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
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Painter, sculptor and theater designer Anne Patterson will visualize this whimsical environment on the symphony stage using light projections, satin ribbons hanging over the orchestra and giant head sculptures for the vocal soloists.
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A whimsical grotto has been added as the central element of the fountain wall.
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Slicing, dicing, flailing a one-hander and making whimsical decisions during points, Schiavone offered a singular game and a ferocious contrast to baseline bashing.
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Francesca is more or less perfect—witty, sweet-natured, in love with New York City, always eager for a whimsical adventure with Dev—and she’s also engaged, which of course only makes Dev want her more.
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The contents of the whimsical backpack are keeping the young girl alive.
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The rising star has donned a series of glam-meets-whimsical daytime and red carpet looks — Gucci, Prada, Rodarte — while promoting The Beguiled and How to Talk to Girls at Parties during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival.
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At other times that geometry is weirdly whimsical: the precise formations of dancers done up like human-insect hybrids, Vegas-style, while Blanchett’s deliciously imperious Russian choreographer barks at them about Fluxus.
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Instead: Buy whimsical journals and cards, which are cute mementos that don't take up so much space.
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.
Origin and Etymology of whimsical
whimsy
WHIMSICAL Defined for English Language Learners
whimsical
playDefinition of whimsical for English Language Learners
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: unusual in a playful or amusing way : not serious
WHIMSICAL Defined for Kids
whimsical
playDefinition of whimsical for Students
1 : full of whims
2 : unusual in a playful or amusing way a whimsical tale of youth
Learn More about whimsical
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for whimsical Spanish Central: Translation of whimsical Nglish: Translation of whimsical for Spanish speakers
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