Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wimp out

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.72 in modern English

Syllables: wim-p out
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To back out of something because of cowardice.

Derogatory; Informal; Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"Your son has been a holy terror! He kept getting into trouble and refusing to mind me! After repeatedly trying to get him to behave, I finally gave up. I wimped out. I have the womb to be a parent, but not the backbone."
"Meanwhile, the West Bank Palestinian leaders are busy publicly collecting food and blankets to help all those Palestinian civilians brutalized by the Israeli incursion into Gaza, while privately demanding to know from senior Israeli officials why they wimped out and didn’t wipe Hamas in Gaza off the face of earth — casualties be damned."
"I could have taken a big chunk out of the show that day by wimping out."

Etymology

From wimp (“one who is weak and unconfident”).

Usage

Inflected Forms

wimps out (present, singular) wimping out (participle, present) wimped out (participle, past) wimped out (past)

Frequently Paired Words

wimpy

Synonyms

chicken out

Questions

What does wimp out mean?: To back out of something because of cowardice.
Where does wimp out come from?: From wimp (“one who is weak and unconfident”).

How to pronounce wimp out

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