variants
also whimsey
as in humor
a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action
the pop singer's latest whimsy is that she has acting talent
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of whimsy
There’s a lot of whimsy, but the cuteness is intertwined with tough stuff, too difficult to be saccharine.
—
Caitlin Lovinger, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2024
The inspiration was luxury, but also a little bit of whimsy, a little bit of playfulness.
—Sydney Gore, Architectural Digest, 3 Jan. 2025
For a bit of whimsy, the annual challenge is always based on the calendar year.
—Gretchen Rubin, TIME, 30 Dec. 2024
Rooms are painted a soothing gray, with marbled wallpaper, stained glass windows, and colorful decor serving as delightful pops of whimsy.
—Monica Mendal, Vogue, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for whimsy 
Caitlin Lovinger, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2024
The inspiration was luxury, but also a little bit of whimsy, a little bit of playfulness.
—Sydney Gore, Architectural Digest, 3 Jan. 2025
For a bit of whimsy, the annual challenge is always based on the calendar year.
—Gretchen Rubin, TIME, 30 Dec. 2024
Rooms are painted a soothing gray, with marbled wallpaper, stained glass windows, and colorful decor serving as delightful pops of whimsy.
—Monica Mendal, Vogue, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for whimsy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whimsy
Noun
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Through it all—the fights, the coupon cutting, the hand-me-downs, the breakdowns—with love, humor and perseverance, the family prevails.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
28 Jan. 2025
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Despite great chemistry between stars Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich, and Vincent D'Onofrio, The Newton Boys is a crime film without much tension that devolves into a hangout picture without the humor or wit of his better, well, hangout pictures.—
Brian Smolensky and James Mercadante,
EW.com,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Like an adult version of the Heathers of Heathers, the trio are bound by a notion of friendship that is stronger than the truth it is based on.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
24 Jan. 2025
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Not all of these movies have made money, but all of them bask in the glow of success, heralding the notion that the business is confident of doing well while doing good.—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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While the political theater surrounding Trump’s calls for rate cuts will continue, the broader discussion should focus on building a future that doesn’t depend on the whims of central bankers but instead embraces a sound, fair, and forward-looking financial system.—
Dave Birnbaum,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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Puerto Ricans are simply beholden to the whims of U.S. policymakers.—
Kristen Waggoner,
Newsweek,
21 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The impression of Breillat created by her films is that of a person who is unafraid of—who perhaps even delights in—confrontation.—
Victoria Uren,
The New Yorker,
27 Jan. 2025
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Throughout much of history, these elusive bears left little impression on Chinese literature and art, let alone holding any cultural significance like the dragon, the tiger or the crane.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Best known for roles in the Netflix fantasy series Sweet Tooth and Universal’s hit horror comedy Cocaine Bear, Convery is repped by Innovative and Entertainment 360.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
24 Jan. 2025
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With Venus in your sign, the love planet heightens your romantic longings and fantasies, all while Mars retrograde brings past romantic or creative endeavors back into focus.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Vape shops have spread across the American retail landscape with a bizarre swiftness, seemingly unbeholden to the same vagaries of inflation, customer demand, and local real estate that bind every other kind of storefront small business in the country.—
Amanda Mull,
The Atlantic,
22 June 2023
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Third, repeaters should prove capable of swapping this data between nodes in a network in a predictable way and not one too subject to the vagaries of chance.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
13 June 2023
Noun
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Most important, Afghanistan’s citizens have come to expect a more predictable experience when crossing borders, less subject to the whims and caprice of officials.—
George Gavrilis,
Foreign Affairs,
4 June 2015
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Back when podcasting wasn’t co-opted by YouTube, the idea was that owning your own successful podcast insulates you from being completely beholden to the caprice of social-media algorithms.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
12 Sep. 2024
Noun
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As the scholar of Victorian culture Will Abberley outlines, in early works such as Glaucus, Kingsley was prone to interpret nature in moral terms, to finding symbols of virtue in behaviors revealed through observation, so that bees display industriousness, crabs cleanliness, and so on.—
Ben Woollard,
JSTOR Daily,
29 Jan. 2025
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Pesticides can be dangerous, especially to farmworkers and native insects, including bees.—
Benji Jones,
Vox,
28 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near whimsy
Cite this Entry
“Whimsy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whimsy. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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