Even the origin of whimsical is whimsical: its ultimate source (by way of the noun whimsy) is the now-obscure whim-wham, a noun from the early 16th century that first referred to an ornamental object or trinket, and later to an eccentric impulse or interest—that is, to what in modern terms can be called a whim. The origin of whim-wham isn’t clear, but it’s among a class of words known as reduplications, words that are formed by repeating a word, as in go-go, or by adding to a word one that sounds very similar to it, as in dillydally. (In the case of whim-wham, the original duplicated term has been lost to time.) While whimsical first described those who tend toward whimsy, it now commonly describes things that are unusual in a playful or amusing way, as in “charmed by the book’s whimsical illustrations.”
You can practically taste the tropics in these whimsical doughnuts. Ripe bananas, toasted coconut and your favorite rum transform traditional doughnuts into paradisiacal ones.—Janice Wald Henderson, Chocolatier, March 2001Unlike the broad slapstick humor of Musical Mose and other early Herriman strips, Krazy Kat was gentle, fey, and whimsical.—Jeet Heer, Lingua Franca, September 2001In the whimsical linguistics of theoretical physics, the "naked" electron is an imaginary object cut off from the influences of the field, whereas a "dressed" electron carries the imprint of the universe, but it is all buried in extremely tiny modifications to its bare properties.—Leon Lederman et al., The God Particle, 1993
She has a whimsical sense of humor.
it's hard to make plans with such a whimsical best friend
Recent Examples on the WebZoom in: Just about every neighborhood in RVA has a house where locals went all out to scare the bejesus out of you, or just offer some whimsical holiday fun (like an alien invasion).—Karri Peifer, Axios, 30 Oct. 2024 Utilitarian and whimsical, layering multi-colored knitwear in different contrasting shades (or in complementary pastels) is an easy yet elevated way to layer for winter, thanks to texture combinations when playing with the season's favorite fabric—suede.—Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2024 The celebration is at once joyful, whimsical and deeply sacred.—R. Daniel Foster, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024 The brand’s pretty pastels and whimsical prints are light and feminine, and this breezy dress was as comfy as my favorite tees during my Maui trip — but so much more stylish.—Lois Alter Mark, Travel + Leisure, 21 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for whimsical
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whimsical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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