- Today's Word
Whimsical
[WHIM-zi-kuhl]
Definition
- (adjective) something that is playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way. It often refers to things that are unpredictably charming, capricious, or simply out of the ordinary.
Example
The children’s book author was known for her whimsical illustrations, featuring talking animals and trees with faces that captured young readers’ imaginations.
Fun Fact
The word “whimsical” derives from the noun “whimsy,” which originally meant “a fanciful or fantastic device” in the 1500s. It comes from the word “whim-wham,” an Middle English term for a fanciful object. The concept of whimsy has played a significant role in various art movements, particularly in the Surrealist movement of the early 20th century, where artists deliberately created works that were dreamlike and fantastical. In modern usage, “whimsical” has become associated with a lighthearted, carefree approach to life and art, often invoking a sense of childlike wonder or playfulness.
(adjective) Too great, extreme, or overwhelming to be adequately expressed in words.
Standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon for the first time, she was struck by an ineffable feeling — something vast and wordless that no photograph or description had ever come close to capturing.
Ineffable derives from the Latin ineffabilis — “unutterable” — built from in- (“not”) and effabilis (“speakable”), itself from effari, meaning “to speak out,” from ex- (“out”) and fari (“to speak”). It entered English in the 15th century, used predominantly in religious and mystical contexts to describe the divine — God being the ultimate ineffable subject, a presence so vast that language itself collapses in the attempt to contain it.