flimsy
/ˈflɪmzi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.10 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of an argument, explanation, etc.: ill-founded, unconvincing, weak; also, unimportant; paltry, trivial.
adj
Of a person: lacking depth of character or understanding; frivolous, superficial.
noun
Thin typing paper used together with carbon paper in a typewriter to make multiple copies of a document; (countable) a sheet of such paper.
Dated; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "He expected the flimsy structure to collapse at any moment."
- "Yet do I carry every vvhere vvith me ſuch a confounded farago of doubts, fears, hopes, vviſhes, and all the flimſy furniture of a country Miſs's brain!"
- "But reveries (for human minds vvill act) / Specious in ſhovv, impoſſible in fact, / Thoſe flimſy vvebs that break as ſoon as vvrought, / Attain not to the dignity of thought."
- "[T]here always comes a day when the rouſed publick indignation kicks their flimſy edifice down, and ſends its cowardly enemies a-flying."
- "[…] I would have pulled that window out by its frame, if need be, to get to that table. There was no need, for the flimsy clasp gave at the first pull, and the sashes swung open."
- ""I've done nothing yet," he would say, "I don't think I've got any real genius. But if I keep trying I may write a good book." Fine dives have been made from flimsier spring-boards."
Etymology
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.
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: -sy
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈflɪmzi/
- British English: /ˈflɪmzi/
Usage
Inflected Forms
flimsier (comparative)
more flimsy (comparative)
flimsiest (superlative)
most flimsy (superlative)
flimsies (plural)
flimsies (present, singular)
flimsying (participle, present)
flimsied (participle, past)
flimsied (past)