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
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Recent Examples of whims
No matter how much someone disagrees with recent decisions by the high court, threatening to subordinate judicial independence to the whims of a political party befits a banana republic.
—
Washington Post Editorial Board, Twin Cities, 29 May 2026
Barcelona, too, suffered from the whims of their men’s financial state this season.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 27 May 2026
By their very nature, pop-ups are fluid and subject to the whims of weather.
—Sam Flemming, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
The trio are connected through the whims of fate, the bonds of blood, the power of art (Federico García Lorca looms large), the horrors of war, and, mostly, the magic of overediting.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 27 May 2026
In normal times, money really can provide some buffer against the whims of the world.
—Hannah Seligson, Vanity Fair, 23 May 2026
The decor offers a colorful contrast to the austere exterior, allowing the house to honor the neighborhood while indulging the whims of its occupants.
—Fred Albert, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
The other flavors will be up to his weekly whims.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
This will take place while protecting your funds from the whims of the market, too.
—Matt Richardson, CBS News, 14 May 2026
Washington Post Editorial Board, Twin Cities, 29 May 2026
Barcelona, too, suffered from the whims of their men’s financial state this season.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 27 May 2026
By their very nature, pop-ups are fluid and subject to the whims of weather.
—Sam Flemming, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
The trio are connected through the whims of fate, the bonds of blood, the power of art (Federico García Lorca looms large), the horrors of war, and, mostly, the magic of overediting.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 27 May 2026
In normal times, money really can provide some buffer against the whims of the world.
—Hannah Seligson, Vanity Fair, 23 May 2026
The decor offers a colorful contrast to the austere exterior, allowing the house to honor the neighborhood while indulging the whims of its occupants.
—Fred Albert, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
The other flavors will be up to his weekly whims.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
This will take place while protecting your funds from the whims of the market, too.
—Matt Richardson, CBS News, 14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whims
Noun
-
This was a Jean Paul Gualitier wrap that challenged traditional notions of how a top male soccer player should appear, sending the British tabloids into a hysterical spin.—
Sheena McKenzie,
CNN Money,
7 June 2026
-
Ancient notions, dating back to Ptolemy, claimed that Africa was surrounded by boiling seas filled with giant creatures, whirlpools, and perpetual darkness.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
2 June 2026
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
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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
Noun
-
That makes the policy initiative vulnerable to the vagaries of politics or local budgeting, critics say.—
Topher Sanders,
ProPublica,
2 June 2026
-
Fans at the Club World Cup also suffered from the heat, thunderstorms, and the vagaries of FIFA’s dynamic ticket pricing, whereby prices rise and fall according to demand.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Noun
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These fantasies can all skew toward exclusionary extremism on the left and the right.—
Eliza Goodpasture,
ARTnews.com,
3 June 2026
-
In those pages, Fiedler dared to argue that many of America’s boyish and putatively innocent classics are in fact fantasies of interracial, homosexual romance.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Noun
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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
Cite this Entry
“Whims.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whims. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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