Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a sad or pathetic person given to flights of fancy, a daydreamer.
  • noun an imposter, especially one claiming military service he has in fact never undergone.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun fictional character created by James Thurber who daydreams about his adventures and triumphs

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After the main character in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, ”by James Thurber.]

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Examples

  • I propose we use the term Walter Mitty to refer to these people or even shorten it to "Walts"

    Army Rumour Service 2010

  • I propose we use the term Walter Mitty to refer to these people or even shorten it to "Walts"

    Army Rumour Service 2010

  • I propose we use the term Walter Mitty to refer to these people or even shorten it to "Walts"

    Army Rumour Service 2010

  • I propose we use the term Walter Mitty to refer to these people or even shorten it to "Walts"

    Army Rumour Service 2010

  • I propose we use the term Walter Mitty to refer to these people or even shorten it to "Walts"

    Army Rumour Service 2010

  • Justin is, what over here UK we call a 'Walter Mitty', a blustering gobhsite, a wannabe-never-gonna-be, just full of piss and wind.

    Justin Hoffer: Raging Chickenhawk! CC 2009

  • Fantasy sequences were nothing new when Thurber wrote "Walter Mitty," but what was new was the elaborate way he connected the fantasies to the real world (having some real-life thing transition Mitty into his fantasy, and having something in the fantasy merge back with reality) and the connections between the various fantasies (like the running gag of having a sound described as "Pocketa-pocketa-pocketa" in each fantasy, coming from a different machine each time).

    Archive 2007-05-01 Jaime J. Weinman 2007

  • Fantasy sequences were nothing new when Thurber wrote "Walter Mitty," but what was new was the elaborate way he connected the fantasies to the real world (having some real-life thing transition Mitty into his fantasy, and having something in the fantasy merge back with reality) and the connections between the various fantasies (like the running gag of having a sound described as "Pocketa-pocketa-pocketa" in each fantasy, coming from a different machine each time).

    Pocketa-Pocketa-Pocketa Jaime J. Weinman 2007

  • Faster than you can say "Walter Mitty," he is whisked into the world of corporate espionage and counter spying.

    Cypher digitaldoc 2006

  • Faster than you can say "Walter Mitty," he is whisked into the world of corporate espionage and counter spying.

    Archive 2006-02-01 digitaldoc 2006

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