whimsical
whim·si·cal/ˈwɪmzɪkəl/adjective
whimsical is spelled W-H-I-M-S-I-C-A-L: 9 letters and 3 syllables (whim·si·cal). It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, whimsical means “Given to whimsy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in whimsical?
| Letters | 9: W-H-I-M-S-I-C-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: whim·si·cal |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 25,367th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is whimsical?
Whimsical 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 whimsical?
- UK /ˈwɪmzɪkəl/
Whimsical has 3 syllables, split whim·si·cal in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-whimsical.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of whimsical
- more whimsical comparative
- most whimsical superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does whimsical mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Given to whimsy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Whimsical in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Given to whimsy; capricious; odd; peculiar; playful; light-hearted or amusing:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | capricieux, étrange, drôle, amusant, lunatique |
| German | launenhaft, spielerisch, launisch, schrullig, drollig, wunderlich |
| Portuguese | caprichoso, extravagante, divertido |
| Spanish | caprichoso, antojadizo |
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 whimsical come from?
From whimsy + -ical.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).