whims

plural of whim

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of whims There are many reasons the United States needs clear, stable regulations on artificial intelligence, rather than relying on the whims of a leader. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026 Behold the plight of the Ryan Murphy character, cursed to behave nonsensically and flit wildly from plotline to plotline based on the writer’s whims. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026 Although Muslims made up a third of India’s population, they were thinly spread across the country and in any new democratic system would almost always find themselves at the whims of the Hindu majority. — Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026 But an outdoor garden, no matter how beautiful and lovingly designed or how innovatively used in the menu, is susceptible to the whims of Miami’s humid, rainy, extraordinarily lengthy summers. — Connie Ogle, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026 The players are not responsible for the whims of their ownership. — Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026 Janse uses no-till farming on his fields — not plowing the soil, planting crops to cover the ground year-round and adding organic matter — to help cope with the whims of the weather as climate change triggers more extremes. — ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026 The question is whether that dash is written intentionally or at the whims of the universe. — Catherine Bell, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026 Such temperatures also ground firefighting aircraft, leaving cities, towns and forests even more vulnerable to a wildfire’s whims. — John Vaillant, Time, 8 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whims
Noun
  • This fall, New York museums are mounting an intriguing mix of shows that speak to notions of girlhood, nostalgia, and feminine self-expression across time, cultures, and creative disciplines.
    — Stephanie Sporn, Vogue, 20 Sep. 2026
  • As Nora’s feelings for Thomas butt up against her wish for a full-time offer at Platen, her romanticized notions of the people and place come crashing down.
    — Natalia Winkelman, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Festivals, with their many equity pipers to pay, contend with further caprices.
    — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2026
  • One needed Mother Nature to bestow upon brewers the right temperatures for making beer, and in the days before refrigeration and even thermometers, that meant that brewing was largely dictated by the caprices of the seasons.
    — Jay R. Brooks, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • There is really no way to talk about the film unless one falls back on wispy vagaries and pointed allusions to cinematic precedents, or just explaining the act one set-up and then stopping with the warning that things get really weird thereafter.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Of course, the ultimate risk for owning these stocks is familiar to all investors, namely the vagaries of the market itself.
    — Norah Rami, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • The Nashville group Total Wife go off the deep end with mutant hyperpop fantasies on their delightful Come Back Down, while Phoenix’s Glixen get romantic on Quiet Pleasures.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2026
  • This is part of how Hollywood helped make the gerbil legend, shaping stars to deliver fantasies but telling lies along the way.
    — Allen Salkin, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • In honor of Valentine’s Day, Stephanie also has a story on the whimsies created by chocolate artist Chris Ford at his West Hollywood pop-up shop.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2026
  • In The Girlfriend, the truth is malleable, open to change based on our biases, judgments, whimsies, and desires.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Whims.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whims. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

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