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
As a medium tied to evolving technology and the whims of capital, film has panic about its future baked into its very foundations.
—
Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2026
Trump’s fixation about coal is another of his whims of iron, like tariffs.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
But a system that allows a country to be dragged into war at the whims of a single person is not much of a democracy at all.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
The planet is the setting for an unlikely mix of sci-fi, magic, and fantasy, populated by a bizarre assortment of characters whose origins were usually determined by the out-there whims of toymakers — there really is no other way to explain Snout Spout.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 3 Mar. 2026
America’s warfighters will never be held hostage by the ideological whims of Big Tech.
—Tina Nguyen, The Verge, 28 Feb. 2026
Trying to follow his energy, his whims, his insults and his self-aggrandizement practically requires a seatbelt to watch.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 24 Feb. 2026
Following your whims is the perfect way to spend today.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 22 Feb. 2026
Musicians have long suffered in silence at the capricious whims of Wikipedia editors.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 20 Feb. 2026
Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2026
Trump’s fixation about coal is another of his whims of iron, like tariffs.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
But a system that allows a country to be dragged into war at the whims of a single person is not much of a democracy at all.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
The planet is the setting for an unlikely mix of sci-fi, magic, and fantasy, populated by a bizarre assortment of characters whose origins were usually determined by the out-there whims of toymakers — there really is no other way to explain Snout Spout.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 3 Mar. 2026
America’s warfighters will never be held hostage by the ideological whims of Big Tech.
—Tina Nguyen, The Verge, 28 Feb. 2026
Trying to follow his energy, his whims, his insults and his self-aggrandizement practically requires a seatbelt to watch.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 24 Feb. 2026
Following your whims is the perfect way to spend today.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 22 Feb. 2026
Musicians have long suffered in silence at the capricious whims of Wikipedia editors.
—Walden Green, Pitchfork, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whims
Noun
-
The brand new house aims to shake up the old publishing playbook by exploding notions of genre and form, and celebrating the subcultures driving artistic innovation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Everyone was looking for an edge, and that trumped clinging to old notions.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
4 Mar. 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
-
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
-
As a result, those close to him have felt that there have been some vagaries around his role within the team since his arrival.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
28 Feb. 2026
-
The vagaries of the schedule are something that figures to hamper MLS teams all season.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
From that premise, Gyllenhaal lighted on 1930s movie musicals as some of the glossiest and most charming fantasies that Hollywood has ever put out, but also as some of the most consciously artificial.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
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In fact, his manuscript is also about his fantasies—in this case, fantasies about a young man who has a meaningful, intellectual, tender affair with his older mentor.—
Meg Walters,
Glamour,
9 Mar. 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
Cite this Entry
“Whims.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whims. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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