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Trace Whimsical Back to the 16th Century
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.”
Examples of whimsical in a Sentence
Janice Wald Henderson, Chocolatier, March 2001
Unlike the broad slapstick humor of Musical Mose and other early Herriman strips, Krazy Kat was gentle, fey, and whimsical.
—Jeet Heer, Lingua Franca, September 2001
In 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
Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 9 Feb. 2025
Seems like Jeremy Strong is taking a page out of Timothée Chalamet’s whimsical A Complete Unknown press tour — Club Chalamet’s wrath be damned.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 9 Feb. 2025
The month begins on a dreamy note as your celestial ruler, Venus, joins Neptune in a whimsical conjunction.
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 7 Feb. 2025
How Deep is Your Love | Dir. Eleanor Mortimer; 2025; U.K.; 100 min
Scientists explore the mysterious deep sea to collect and name undiscovered species in this whimsical
and mesmerizing oceanic odyssey.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 5 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for whimsical 
Dictionary Entries Near whimsical
Cite this Entry
“Whimsical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whimsical. Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
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whimsical
adjective
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