Whim definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

A whim is a wish to do or have something which seems to have no serious reason or purpose behind it, and often occurs suddenly. We decided, more or less on a ... EnglishDictionary Thesaurus Thesaurus AmericanThesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists English French German Italian Spanish Portuguese Hindi Chinese Definitionof 'whim'    WordFrequency Share× Credits× whim (hwɪm ) Wordforms:pluralwhims variablenoun[ofton/atN] Awhimisawishtodoorhavesomethingwhichseemstohavenoseriousreasonorpurposebehindit,andoftenoccurssuddenly. Wedecided,moreorlessonawhim,tosailtoMorocco. Thepremiumcanincreaseatthewhimoftheinsurers.[+of] Lately,thepresidenthasbeensackingandpickingnewministersatwhim. Synonyms:impulse,suddennotion,caprice,fancy MoreSynonymsofwhim COBUILDAdvancedEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Video:pronunciationof whim Youmayalsolike EnglishQuizConfusables Synonymsof'whim' LanguageLover'sBlog FrenchTranslationof'whim' Translateyourtext PronunciationPlaylists Wordoftheday:'allhail' HindiTranslationof'whim' NEWfromCollins! EnglishGrammar CollinsApps WordFrequency whiminBritishEnglish (wɪm ) noun1. asudden,passing,andoftenfancifulidea;impulsiveorirrationalthought 2. ahorse-drawnwinchformerlyusedinminingtoliftoreorwater CollinsEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers WordoriginC17:fromwhim-wham WordFrequency whiminAmericanEnglish (hwɪm ;wɪm ) noun1.  asuddenfancy;idleandpassingnotion;capriciousideaordesire 2.  akindofwinchorcapstanpoweredbyahorseorsteam,formerlyusedinminestoraiseoreorwater SIMILARWORDS: caˈprice Webster’sNewWorldCollegeDictionary,4thEdition.Copyright©2010by HoughtonMifflinHarcourt.Allrightsreserved. Wordoriginshortforwhim-wham WordFrequency whiminAmericanEnglish (hwɪm,wɪm) noun1. anoddorcapriciousnotionordesire;asuddenorfreakishfancy asuddenwhimtotakeamidnightwalk 2. capricioushumor tobeswayedbywhim Mostmaterial©2005,1997,1991byPenguinRandomHouseLLC.Modifiedentries©2019 byPenguinRandomHouseLLCandHarperCollinsPublishersLtd Wordorigin[1635–45;shortforwhim-wham] Examplesof'whim'inasentence whim Theseexampleshavebeenautomaticallyselectedandmaycontainsensitivecontent.Readmore… Concernforthepublicgoodveryoftenbecomesquitearbitrarypersonalwhim.TheTimesLiterarySupplement(2012)Pricescanbehighlyvolatileastheyarepronetothewhimsoffashion.Times,SundayTimes(2010)Theythinkpeoplearegoingtogivethemtensofmillionsofpoundsonsomewhimofanidea.TheSun(2011)Nodoubtthatiswhythesortofcakesbeingservedarealsosubjecttothewhimsoffashion.Times,SundayTimes(2010)Askyourselfifyouwouldratherhaveafreepress,orapressatthewhimofpoliticalmasters?Times,SundayTimes(2011)Pay-dependentonpoliticalwhim.Times,SundayTimes(2013)Andoncefestivalslosetheirspecialistappeal,theyareassubjecttothewhimsoffashionasanyotherculturalphenomenon.Times,SundayTimes(2011)Governorshadnosecurityoftenure;theyservedatthewhimofthegovernmentinLondon.Garraty,JohnArthurTheAmericanNation:AHistoryoftheUnitedStatesto1877(1995)Initiallyinsouciant,theybecomeincreasinglyfranticandcompetitiveastheydisappearandreappear,adaptingtheiroutfitstothewhimsoffashion.ChristianityToday(2000)TomyfriendsIgaveittobeunderstoodthattheymustallowmealittletimetosatisfythewhimsofanewandsoleprotector.KatieHickmanCOURTESANS(2003) Trendsof whim Viewusagefor: AllYears Last10years Last50years Last100years Last300years Inotherlanguages whim BritishEnglish:whim NOUN/wɪm/Awhimisawishtodoorhavesomethingwhichseemstohavenoseriousreasonorpurposebehindit,andoftenoccurssuddenly.Wedecided,moreorlessonawhim,tosailtotheisland.AmericanEnglish:whim /ˈwɪm/BrazilianPortuguese:capricho Chinese:突发的念头EuropeanSpanish:capricho French:coupdetête NGerman:Laune Italian:capriccio Japanese:気まぐれKorean:변덕EuropeanPortuguese:capricho LatinAmericanSpanish:capricho Thai:ความอยากชั่วแล่น Translateyourtextforfree Browsealphabetically whim whillywhaw whilom whilst whim whim-wham whim-whams whimberry AllENGLISHwordsthatbeginwith'W' Relatedtermsof whim whim-wham whim-whams thewhim-whams Source DefinitionofwhimfromtheCollinsEnglishDictionary NewfromCollins QuickwordchallengeQuizReviewQuestion:1 - Score:0/5 whine or wine?Whichversioniscorrect?Thisisareallynicewhine.Thisisareallynicewine.die or dye?Whichversioniscorrect?Myloveforyouwillneverdie.Myloveforyouwillneverdye.pail or pale?Whichversioniscorrect?Themorningskywasaverypailblue.Themorningskywasaverypaleblue.retch or wretch?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. retch wretchThesmellmademe .sole or soul?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. sole soulTheir aimistoprovidefortheirfamilies.Yourscore:CheckSeetheanswerNextNextquizReview Nov20,2021 Wordoftheday allhail anarchaicgreetingorsalutation SEEFULLDEFINITION SEEPREVIOUSWORDS Signupforournewsletter Getthelatestnewsandgainaccesstoexclusiveupdatesandoffers Signmeup LatestWordSubmissions bug-outbag Nov14,2021 KeelingCurve Nov14,2021 flipphone Nov13,2021 noncomprehensive Nov13,2021 ViewMoreSubmit BonfireorGuyFawkesNight Onthenightof4November1605GuyFawkes,aCatholic,wasdiscoveredinanundercroftoftheHouseofLordsguardingahoardofgunpowderintendedtoexplodethefollowingdayatthestateopeningofParliamentandtherebyassassinatetheProtestantKingJamesIandannihilatethegovernment. Readmore COP26 WithCOP26currentlyunderwayinGlasgow,welookatthelargeandconstantlyevolvinglexiconofclimatechange. Readmore Trickortreat?TheeerieetymologybehindpopularHalloweenwords Spookyseasonhasarrivedoncemore!Pumpkinsareoutinfullforceandthisyear,wedecidedtorevisitsomeofourgruesomelexicalofferingswithabrand-newlookintosomeofthemostpopularwordsandphrasesassociatedwiththescariesttimeofyear. Readmore CollinsEnglishDictionaryApps DownloadourEnglishDictionaryapps-availableforbothiOSandAndroid. Readmore CollinsDictionariesforSchools Ournewonlinedictionariesforschoolsprovideasafeandappropriateenvironmentforchildren.Andbestofallit'sadfree,sosignupnowandstartusingathomeorintheclassroom. Readmore Wordlists Wehavealmost200listsofwordsfromtopicsasvariedastypesofbutterflies,jackets,currencies,vegetablesandknots! Amazeyourfriendswithyournew-foundknowledge! Readmore JointheCollinscommunity Allthelatestwordynews,linguisticinsights,offersandcompetitionseverymonth. Readmore Scrabblescorefor'whim':12 QuickwordchallengeQuizReviewQuestion:1 - Score:0/5 ashamed or embarrassed?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. embarrassed ashamedHeseemed bythequestion.able or capable?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. capable ableHe's ofloyalty.allow or let?Whichversioniscorrect?Willyouallowmetogototheparty?Willyouletmetogototheparty?afraid or frightened?Whichversioniscorrect?I'mafraidshe'snotatherdeskjustnow.I'mfrightenedshe'snotatherdeskjustnow.beside or besides?Whichversioniscorrect?Isatdownbesidemywife.Isatdownbesidesmywife.Yourscore:CheckSeetheanswerNextNextquizReview CreateanaccountandsignintoaccessthisFREEcontent Registernoworlogintoaccess LANGUAGE English EnglishDictionary Thesaurus Thesaurus AmericanThesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists French EnglishtoFrench FrenchtoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz German EnglishtoGerman GermantoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Italian EnglishtoItalian ItaliantoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Spanish EnglishtoSpanish SpanishtoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Portuguese EnglishtoPortuguese PortuguesetoEnglish Conjugations Hindi EnglishtoHindi HinditoEnglish Chinese EnglishtoChinese ChinesetoEnglish Quiz TRANSLATOR GAMES Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists Frenchgrammar Germangrammar Italiangrammar MandarinChinesecharacters Spanishgrammar Scrabble ScrabbleHome Wordchecker Help Tools SCHOOLS HomeSchool PrimarySchool SecondarySchool BLOG RESOURCES Resources CollinsWordoftheDay PaulNobleMethod VideoPronunciations WordoftheYear