Basic Details
Word: Whimsical
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Playful and unusual in an imaginative way, often driven by a sudden fancy rather than by careful thought.
Synonyms: playful, fanciful, quirky
Antonyms: serious, sensible
How to Spell Whimsical
Syllables: whim - si - cal
Tricky part: The word opens with wh, which many students forget because the h is not heard. The ending is -ical, so whimsicle is wrong, and the middle letter is s, never z.
Watch out for: wimsical, whimsicle, whimzical
Memory tip: Start from whimsy, the noun, and swap its y for ical: whims + ical. The h comes from whim, a sudden wish.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Nani's whimsical hat had a paper parrot perched on the brim.
Example 2: Our school play had a whimsical plot about a cloud that wanted to become a kite.
Example 3: On a whimsical impulse, Rohan decided to cycle to Lonavala and gave up halfway.
Fun Fact
Whimsical is built on whim, which began as a shortened form of whim-wham, an older English word for a trinket or a fanciful notion.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word whimsical as used in the sentence:
The illustrator gave the storybook a whimsical style, with flying fish and houses shaped like teacups.
a) serious
b) colourful
c) fanciful
d) quirky
Show answer
a) serious. Flying fish and teacup houses are playful; a style with none of that fun would be serious.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Grandpa told us a lcamsihiw tale about a tiger who ran a tea stall.
a) mystical
b) magical
c) whimsical
d) musical
Show answer
c) whimsical. A tiger running a tea stall is a playful, made-up idea, and the nine letters spell whimsical.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
wh_ms_cal
a) i, i
b) i, e
c) y, i
d) e, i
Show answer
a) i, i. Both gaps take an i: one for whim and one in the si that comes before cal.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. abundent 2. whimsical 3. mischevious 4. persistant
a) existing in large amounts
b) refusing to give up easily
c) fond of causing trouble in a playful way
d) playful and fanciful in an unusual way
Show answer
d) playful and fanciful in an unusual way. Mischievous needs ie after the v, abundant ends in ant and persistent in ent, which leaves whimsical.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A whimsical garden would most likely have ____.
a) plain rows of grey stones
b) one neat square lawn
c) benches shaped like shoes
d) a tall fence with locks
Show answer
c) benches shaped like shoes
2. If a plan is whimsical, it was probably made ____.
a) on a sudden fancy
b) after months of study
c) by a strict committee
d) under legal advice
Show answer
a) on a sudden fancy
