Thesaurus results for WHIMS

whims

noun

plural of whim

as in notions

a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action on a whim, we stopped at the roadside stand to get ice cream

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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 By their very nature, pop-ups are fluid and subject to the whims of weather. — Sam Flemming, AJC.com, 15 July 2026 On the other hand, biodiversity is far too important an issue to be steered at once by the chaotic whims of Silicon Valley, the legal battles waged by environmental nonprofits, and the old, sclerotic levers of government bureaucracy. — Taylor Dotson, Scientific American, 10 July 2026 After all, this was FIFA, the infamously corrupt governing body of international soccer that seems to function not based on its rulebook but on the whims of a few guys in a room. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 7 July 2026 Grants could be canceled due to political whims, and new layers of bureaucracy would inhibit basic scientific activities like publishing papers and attending conferences. — ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026 And, of course, for all his whims on the basketball court to come true. — Candace Buckner, New York Times, 2 July 2026 Even the richest emperors of the past did not have the ability to satisfy their whims that is now possessed by any student in Chicago or Berlin or Kinshasa. — Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026 Existing grants, meanwhile, can be terminated at the whims of the administration. — Lisa Jarvis, Mercury News, 27 June 2026 The butler service goes above and beyond, catering to your whims including in-room dining (available 24 hours a day for butler suite guests) dropping off bug spray to the room, organizing your clothes into the closet upon arrival, and will even pick you up for dinner in style. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for whims

Noun

For birds, seizing the opportunity to breed comes before human notions of fidelity.

— Andrew Coletti, Popular Science, 8 July 2026
Despite their popularity on a bigger stage, these notions continue to hold onto their local origins.

— Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Definition of notions

Noun

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
Today, every country’s economy is tied to others, but a small nation that’s as historically dependent on trade as Denmark seems particularly vulnerable to Trump’s caprices.

— Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2026

Definition of caprices

Noun

Wealth buys choice, leverage, and a cushion for the vagaries of a market economy.

— Teresa Ghilarducci, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
This is especially true for small businesses, which are particularly vulnerable to the vagaries of California’s most hostile business environment in the nation.

— Jon Coupal, Oc Register, 13 June 2026

Definition of vagaries

Noun

Marina, however, is not looking to the west; her dream is to go further east on a trip fueled by fantasies that her real father was a Russian soldier, if her mother’s secret cache of love letters are anything to go by.

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 11 July 2026
Indeed, Brocka insists on escapist fantasies in a world that otherwise offers no escape, which, in my view, is more hopeful than bleak — and, in turn, allows this kind of gritty sensuality to persist in his ever-enduring, luminous cinema.

— Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 10 July 2026

Definition of fantasies

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

Definition of whimsies

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whimpers

whims

whimsical

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“Whims.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whims. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of whims

noun

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