whim

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But my whim was accomplished; why and under what motive's spur it is hard to guess I sent a message to the Chamber announcing my betrothal; a debate on the answer to be returned followed.

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Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A sudden or capricious idea; a fancy.
  2. noun Arbitrary thought or impulse: governed by whim.
  3. noun A vertical horse-powered drum used as a hoist in a mine.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (10)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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This word has been looked up 151 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

caprice ·  folly ·  vagary ·  wish ·  freak ·  prejudice ·  inclination ·  delusion ·  conceit ·  humour ·  prank ·  impulse

Used in the same contextWord Family

whim:   whims
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Short for whim-wham, fanciful object.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Icelandic hvima, wander with the eyes, as a silly person does, = Norwegian kvima, whisk or flutter about, trifle, play the fool; cf. Swedish dial. hvimmer-kantig, dizzy, swimming in the head; cf. also Welsh chwimiol, be in motion, chwimlo, move briskly; Middle High German wimmen (later G. wimmeln), move.
  2. from whim, v. Cf. Icelandic vim, giddiness, folly. Cf. also whimsy.
  3. Origin obscure.
  4. Cf. whimbrel, whimmer.
 

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/hwɪm/
by American Heritage

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