- 1（作品、風格中）異想天開的趣味、童趣、奇思妙想。常見搭配 a touch of whimsy（一點童心／小巧思）、full of whimsy。當可數名詞指「一時的怪念頭」時較舊，現代多改用 whim。注意批評語氣：說某作品 too much whimsy 是嫌它「太過賣萌、不夠有份量」。
Whimsy is the noun for that quality of being odd — the fanciful, slightly silly, charming spirit you find in some art, writing, design, and people. 'The book has a lot of whimsy' means it is full of strange little ideas that are there for delight, not for a serious purpose. It is the quality itself, not one example of it.
Used this way it is uncountable: 'a touch of whimsy', 'a sense of whimsy', 'full of whimsy'. Those three phrases will cover most of what you need. 'A touch of whimsy' is the most common of all, and it usually means a small playful detail in something otherwise ordinary — a serious grey office with one bright yellow door.
It can also be countable, meaning a single odd idea or a sudden fancy: 'one of his whimsies'. That use is older and rarer now, and it overlaps with . If you want the sudden-wish meaning, is the safer word today.
One honest note about the feeling of this word: whimsy is not always praise. Because it means light and fanciful, people sometimes use it to say something lacks weight — 'the film drowns in whimsy' means it is too cute and never says anything real. So listen for the tone. On its own, though, and especially in the phrase 'a touch of whimsy', it is warm and positive.
The spelling whimsey exists too, but whimsy is the normal one.
組成Probably formed from whims plus the ending -y, which makes a noun for a quality. It belongs to the same little family as whim-wham and whim — those playful doubled-sound words English uses for things that are light and not serious.
同家族的字
- whimthe same root; whim is one sudden idea, whimsy is the quality of having them
- whimsicalthe adjective built directly from whimsy
- whimsicallythe adverb built from whimsical, same root
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
whimsynoun/ˈwɪmzi/
- 1
A quaint and fanciful idea; a whim; playfully odd behaviour.
- […] Take heed of filling their [i.e., children's] heads with VVhimzies, and unprofitable Notions; for this vvill ſooner learn them to be malepert and proud, than ſober and humble.
- These days! where e'en th' extravagance of poetry, / Is at a loss for figures to express / Men's folly, whimsies, and inconstancy, / And by a faint description makes them less.
- 2
An impulsive, illogical or capricious character.
- 3
businessminingA whim (capstan or vertical drum).
- 4
A jigsaw puzzle piece that has been cut into a recognizable shape, as if on a whim; often the shape is representative of the theme of the image used for the puzzle.
- "Dori, you have to solve this puzzle!" / "Sure, right away doctor. Quality construction … clean edges. Oh, a whimsy!"
- 5
artscraftsglassblowingThe support that protects a finished piece as it is detached from a punty.
whimsyverb/ˈwɪmzi/
- 1
To fill with whimsies or whims; to make fantastic; to craze.
- A wantonneſſe in wealth, methinks I agree not with, / Tis ſuch a trouble to be married too, / And have a thouſand things of great importance, / Jewells and plates, and fooleries moleſt mee, / To have a mans brains whimſied with his wealth: […]
whimsyadj/ˈwɪmzi/
- 1
Synonym of whimsical.
- Whimsiest of the fairy brood, I cannot scold you if I would
- […] and if in a whimsy mood I choose to read the opening chapters last, and the closing chapters first, […]
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。