whimsy
/'wimzi/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A playful or fanciful quality: "whimsy" refers to a light, playful, or quaintly amusing characteristic, often showing imagination and a sense of fun.
- A sudden, odd, or capricious idea or notion: "whimsy" can also mean a specific, often unexpected, fanciful thought or impulse.
Usage and Examples
- Noun (Quality):
- The artist's paintings are full of charm and whimsy.
- I love the whimsy of her storytelling; it always makes me smile.
- Noun (Specific Idea):
- He had a sudden whimsy to paint the front door bright purple.
- Her latest whimsy is to learn how to juggle.
Advanced Usage
- "a touch/streak of whimsy": a small amount of a playful or fanciful quality.
- The garden design has a delightful touch of whimsy with its miniature fairy houses.
- "pure/sheer whimsy": something that is entirely fanciful and not serious or practical.
- His plan to build a treehouse for his cat was pure whimsy.
Variants and Related Words
- Whimsical (adj): Having a playful, fanciful, or quaintly amusing quality.
- She has a whimsical sense of fashion.
- Whimsicality (n): The quality of being whimsical.
- The whimsicality of the novel captivated young readers.
Synonyms
- Caprice: A sudden and unaccountable change of mood or behavior.
- Fancy: A spontaneous, often playful, desire or idea.
- Playfulness: A lighthearted, fun-loving quality.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "on a whim/whimsy": Acting on a sudden, impulsive idea.
- We decided to go to the beach on a whim. (Note: "on a whim" is the more common phrase, but "on a whimsy" is a recognized, though less frequent, variant.)
Noun
- the trait of acting unpredictably and more from whim or caprice than from reason or judgment
- I despair at the flightiness and whimsicality of my memory
- an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
- the theatrical notion of disguise is associated with disaster in his stories
- he had a whimsy about flying to the moon
- whimsy can be humorous to someone with time to enjoy it