whim

/wɪm/

/hwɪm/

/wɪm/

Other forms: whims

A whim is an odd or fanciful idea, something kooky you suddenly decide to do, like dress up like a chicken or drive to Vegas.

A whim can be a sudden impulse or a change of mind, like if you go shopping for school clothes but instead buy a pink cowboy hat. Whim is a shortened version of the equally silly sounding whim wham which means "fanciful object," like a tiny snow globe that plays "Hava Nagila." If you go for a drive on a whim, you could wind up anywhere, perhaps even back to the store to return that snow globe.

Definitions of whim

1. noun

   an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
   synonyms: notion, whimsey, whimsy

   type of:

   idea, thought

   the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
2. noun

   a sudden desire
   synonyms: caprice, impulse

   type of:

   desire

   the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state