Dictionary

whimsical en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɪmzɪkəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree English whimsy Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al Middle English -ical English -ical English whimsical From whimsy + -ical.

Meanings

1. Given to whimsy.
   • The childish and savage taste of men and women for new patterns keeps how many shaking and squinting through kaleidoscopes that they may discover the particular figure which this generation requires today. The manufacturers have learned that this taste is merely whimsical. 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
   • Lovers of the movies may well date a new screen era from the day those whimsical pantomimers set their wholesome and humane talent at the service of the arc light and the lens. 1919, Christopher Morley, “(please specify the page)”, in The Haunted Bookshop, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC:
   • There is nothing innocuous, innocent or whimsical in a Totalitarian society, at least in the public sphere. 2020 September 25, Charles Hugh Smith, The Road to Nowhere: Whatever Can't Be Politicized Ceases to Exist:
   • Her lips wavered into a smile—she had been distracted by the whimsical remembrance of the confidences she had made to him, two years earlier, in that very room. 1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
   • Mr. Sherlock Holmes was leaning back in his chair after his whimsical protest, and was unfolding his morning paper in a leisurely fashion, […]. 1903 October 31, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Norwood Builder”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:
   • "But perhaps he may be a little whimsical in his civilities," replied her uncle. "Your great men often are; and therefore I shall not take him at his word, as he might change his mind another day, and warn me off his grounds." 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
   • Even the putatively innocuous whimsical shapes and designs of cakes and pastry, notably in Central Europe, retain to this day the phallic concept[.] 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page iii:

Forms

Deriveds

whimsigoth · whimsigothic · whimsicalist · whimsicality · unwhimsical · nonwhimsical · whimsical sex · whimsicalness

Relateds

whimsically

Synonyms

quick · outlandish · playful · witty · humorous · tongue-in-cheek · quirky · entertaining · idiosyncratic · unconventional · quick on the draw · piquant · peculiar · jocular · sharp · droll · diverting · quick-witted · amusing · pixilated · bright · jocose

Translations (61)

it sconcertante (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de skurril (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de drollig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · pl dziwaczny (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · sv märklig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fr drôle (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · af wispelturig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · sv underlig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ga teidheach (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · pt extravagante (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · no rar (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · nl willekeurig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · it capriccioso (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ota دلی (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · sv konstig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fi oikutteleva (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · es antojadizo (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · nl luchtig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ru капри́зный (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ru прихотли́вый (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · pt divertido (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fi huvittava (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fr lunatique (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fr amusant (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · bg капризен (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · pt caprichoso (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · sv besynnerlig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · sv egendomlig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ru причу́дливый (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · bg своенравен (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ga spangach (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · hu szeszélyes (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · tr garip (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · it strano (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · nl vreemd (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · he שובבני (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fi oikukas (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ga earráideach (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de schrullig (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fr étrange (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de wunderlich (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de originell (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · fr capricieux (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · it peculiare (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de seltsam (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · es caprichoso (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de spielerisch (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · ga meonúil (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · nl curieus (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · pl kapryśny (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · bg причудлив (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · gl caprichoso (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de launenhaft (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · de launisch (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · io ridinda (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · it buffo (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · it divertente (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · tr tuhaf (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · no sær (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · tr acayip (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing) · nl speels (Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing)