Meanings
nounWalter Mitty (plural Walter Mittys or Walter Mitties)
plural Walter Mittys · plural Walter Mitties
- A sad or pathetic person given to flights of fancy; a daydreamer.
- An impostor, especially one falsely claiming to have done military service.
Origin
From the main character in a short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939), by James Thurber.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Walter Mitty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Walter%20Mitty
MLA
“Walter Mitty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Walter%20Mitty. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Walter Mitty,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Walter%20Mitty.
Source: Walter Mitty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.