Meanings
plural whimsicalities
- uncountableThe state of being whimsical.
- countableSomething whimsical; a caprice.
1 more example
We ask: Has this same ‘perhaps not ill-written Program,’ or any other authentic Transaction of that Property-conserving Society, fallen under the eye of the British Reader, in any Journal foreign or domestic? If so, what are those Prize-Questions; what are the terms of Competition, and when and where? No printed Newspaper-leaf, no farther light of any sort, to be met with in these Paper-bags! Or is the whole business one other of those whimsicalities and perverse inexplicabilities, whereby Herr Teufelsdröckh, meaning much or nothing, is pleased so often to play fast-and-loose with us?
1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Pause”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 139
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe trait of acting unpredictably and more from whim or caprice than from reason or judgment
nounthe trait of behaving like an imp
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Dutch speelsheid, grilligheid
- speelsheidstate
- grilligheidstate
Finnish oikullisuus, oikuttelu
- oikullisuusstate
- oikuttelustate
Cite this entry
whimsicality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whimsicality
“whimsicality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whimsicality. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whimsicality,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whimsicality.
Source: whimsicality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.