whimsical

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

|Updated on: 19 Jul 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

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whimsicality

play \ˌhwim-zə-ˈka-lə-tē, ˌwim-\ noun

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whimsically

play \ˈhwim-zi-k(ə-)lē, ˈwim-\ adverb

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whimsicalness

play \ˈhwim-zi-kəl-nəs, ˈwim-\ noun

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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

The work boasts whimsical imagery, painted in a crazy, clashing palette by an artist whose creations make his roots in street art clear.

— morgan smith, chicagotribune.com, "Mac Blackout brings street art with a flair to Uncle Art Gallery," 13 July 2018
As time progressed, more and more whimsical creatures slowly brought downtown Berkley to life Thursday as Grand Rapids artist Jordan Hartz worked his way through it with nothing but a box of chalk, paper towel and charcoal.

— bryce airgood, Detroit Free Press, "Artist with special needs brightens up Berkley with chalk drawings," 12 July 2018
Back in the 1940s, Captain Marvel — who battled the genius worm Mr. Mind, and palled around with a talking tiger — was more popular and substantially more inventive than the drier and less whimsical Superman.

— noah berlatsky, The Verge, "The best superhero stories admit that superheroes are ridiculous," 11 July 2018
In her own work, Nikolich uses vibrant colors, including lots of pink, and featuring fun, whimsical vibes.

— claire wolters, Philly.com, "Meet the Philly artist who yarn bombing around the city to attract Taylor Swift's attention," 10 July 2018
The packaging certainly evokes summer, with a bold pink-and-yellow motif (including a whimsical banana print) that calls to mind strawberry-banana smoothies on the beach.

— emma sarran webster, Teen Vogue, "Kylie Jenner Reveals Kylie Cosmetics “Summer” Collection," 9 July 2018
The story promises to be a whimsical one about three disparate couples, starting with a passionate spat between a young wife and mother, Agnes ( Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir ), and her no-account husband, Atli (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson).

— joe morgenstern, WSJ, "‘Under the Tree’ Review: Neighbors at War," 5 July 2018
The 41 looks, designed by Bertrand Guyon, aimed to capture the whimsical eclecticism of the late, great couturier Elsa Schiaparelli.

— thomas adamson, The Seattle Times, "Dior celebrates the atelier, draws celebs to Paris couture," 2 July 2018
Seating is built into this whimsical retro cafeteria-style table, with stools that swivel underneath for easy storage.

— emily heller, Curbed, "10 dining room tables under $1,000," 29 June 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.