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PlainSpell

flimsy

flim·sy/ˈflɪmzi/adjective, noun, verb

flimsy is spelled F-L-I-M-S-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables (flim·sy). It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, flimsy means “Likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in flimsy?

Letters6: F-L-I-M-S-Y
Syllables2: flim·sy
In writing1.3 times per million words; the 25,367th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is flimsy?

Flimsy appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce flimsy?

  • US /ˈflɪmzi/

Flimsy has 2 syllables, split flim·sy in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-flimsy.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-flimsy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with flimsy?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as flimsy from its last stressed vowel (/ɪmzi/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of flimsy

  • flimsier comparative
  • more flimsy comparative
  • flimsiest superlative
  • most flimsy superlative
  • flimsies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • flimsying participle, present
  • flimsied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does flimsy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial.

    He expected the flimsy structure to collapse at any moment.

  2. 2

    Of clothing: very light and thin.

  3. 3

    Of an argument, explanation, etc.: ill-founded, unconvincing, weak; also, unimportant; paltry, trivial.

    a flimsy excuse

  4. 4

    Of a person: lacking depth of character or understanding; frivolous, superficial.

  5. 5

    obsoleteOf a person, their physical makeup, or their health: delicate, frail.

noun

  1. 1

    datedA thing which is ill-founded, unconvincing, or weak.

  2. 2

    datedThin typing paper used together with carbon paper in a typewriter to make multiple copies of a document; (countable) a sheet of such paper.

  3. 3

    datedslangA service certificate.

  4. 4

    datedslangA banknote; (uncountable) paper money.

  5. 5

    datedThe text to be set into pages of magazines, newspapers, etc.; copy.

  6. 6

    UKdatedslangA hexahedral metal container with a capacity of four imperial gallons (about 18 litres) used by the British Army during World War II to hold fuel.

verb

  1. 1

    datedTo make (something) likely to be easily damaged.

  2. 2

    datedTo type or write (text) on a flimsy (“sheet of thin typing paper used together with carbon paper in a typewriter to make multiple copies of a document”) (noun sense 2); to distribute such flimsies.

  3. 3

    datedTo treat (someone or something) as paltry or unimportant; to demean, to underestimate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Flimsy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfragile, frêle (likely to bend or break under pressure; easily…), faible (of an argument, explanation, etc.: ill-founded…), calque, papier calque (thin typing paper used together with carbon…)
Germandünn, hauchdünn, leicht, schwach, zart, zerbrechlich (likely to bend or break under pressure; easily…)
Portuguesefrágil, receoso, trémulo (likely to bend or break under pressure; easily…)
Spanishendeble, poco sólido, tembleque, enclenque, cañinque, caedizo (likely to bend or break under pressure; easily…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does flimsy come from?

The origin of the adjective is uncertain; it is possibly from flim(-flam) (“(noun) false information presented as true, misinformation, nonsense; poor attempt at deception, confidence trick, pretence; (adjective) frivolous, nonsensical; deceptive; fictitious”) or a metathesis of film (“thin layer of a substance; slender thread”) + -sy (suffix forming adjectives and nouns). The noun and verb are derived from the noun. Noun sense 4 (“metal container”) refers to the fact that the containers often split along their seams and leaked.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after flimsy