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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Recent Examples of whims
Aside from anything else, supporter sentiment can be overwhelming; far more difficult to head off than the whims of journalists.
—
Phil Hay, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
If the Supreme Court officially makes the chief executive a unitary executive, the advancement of the public good may depend on little more than the whims of the president, a state of affairs normally more characteristic of dictatorship than democracy.
—Graham G. Dodds, The Conversation, 7 Oct. 2025
Reality may intrude for the Manifesto in the form of an all-electric powertrain, or an economic downturn, or simply the whims of those in Sant’Agata Bolognese who make the call.
—Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 7 Oct. 2025
One Battle also exemplifies where Hall’s career has taken her, which is to say across genres, moods, and Hollywood whims.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
Instead of standing as a safeguard, Congress has abdicated its responsibility and has been a rubber stamp for the president’s unconstitutional whims.
—Trena Turner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2025
The ask initiates a high-stakes battle at the Supreme Court over the independence of the Fed, which has traditionally been viewed as an institution kept arm’s-length from the White House’s political whims.
—Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 18 Sep. 2025
At best, the rulers who met in Doha on Monday act as supplicants, relying on the whims of a unpredictable US president to intercede with Israel’s leader.
—Ben Wedeman, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025
Their whims work for or against us with no logic involved.
—Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2025
Phil Hay, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
If the Supreme Court officially makes the chief executive a unitary executive, the advancement of the public good may depend on little more than the whims of the president, a state of affairs normally more characteristic of dictatorship than democracy.
—Graham G. Dodds, The Conversation, 7 Oct. 2025
Reality may intrude for the Manifesto in the form of an all-electric powertrain, or an economic downturn, or simply the whims of those in Sant’Agata Bolognese who make the call.
—Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 7 Oct. 2025
One Battle also exemplifies where Hall’s career has taken her, which is to say across genres, moods, and Hollywood whims.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
Instead of standing as a safeguard, Congress has abdicated its responsibility and has been a rubber stamp for the president’s unconstitutional whims.
—Trena Turner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2025
The ask initiates a high-stakes battle at the Supreme Court over the independence of the Fed, which has traditionally been viewed as an institution kept arm’s-length from the White House’s political whims.
—Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 18 Sep. 2025
At best, the rulers who met in Doha on Monday act as supplicants, relying on the whims of a unpredictable US president to intercede with Israel’s leader.
—Ben Wedeman, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025
Their whims work for or against us with no logic involved.
—Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whims
Noun
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By addressing notions of dispossession and racialization, Nolan aims at looking for ways to repair the world.—
Michael James Rocha,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Oct. 2025
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Diné scholar Melanie Yazzie challenges notions about the relationship between decolonization and development.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Or at least have the option of several lives other than their own not being governed by the vagaries of the football industry?—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
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Owning and running the restaurant also meant caring for the vast, aging Foster’s collection while managing the vagaries of heat, cold, humidity and stovetop.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Yet his film, even in its omissions, brims with strategic ingenuity and daring, cinematic and political—to fight other films’ empty fantasies with substantial ones, to battle other advocates’ pernicious myths with virtuous ones.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
7 Oct. 2025
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Dominant culture echoed with racist fantasies like of Birth of a Nation (1915; based on a novel and play of 1905) and Gone With The Wind (novel 1936, movie 1939).—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
5 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Whims.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whims. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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