flimsiest

Adjective

flimsy (comparative flimsier or more flimsy, superlative flimsiest or most flimsy)

1. Likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial.
   • He expected the flimsy structure to collapse at any moment.

   Synonyms:

   fragile, shaky, cheap, shoddy, breakable, delicate, tender, frail, frailsome, frangible

   Antonyms:

   robust, strong, sturdy, unflimsy

   1. Of clothing: very light and thin.
      • Compelled, by its deformity, to screen / With flimsy veil of justice and of right, / Its unattractive lineaments, that scare / All, save the brood of ignorance: […]1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Canto V”, in Queen Mab; […], London: […] P. B. Shelley, […], →OCLC, page 60
2. (figuratively) Of an argument, explanation, etc.: ill-founded, unconvincing, weak; also, unimportant; paltry, trivial.
   • a flimsy excuse

   Synonyms:

   feeble, unfounded, unsubstantiated

   Antonyms:

   well-founded, substantiated

3. (figuratively) Of a person: lacking depth of character or understanding; frivolous, superficial.
   • "Yes, fell woman," answered Middlemas; "but was it I who encouraged the young tyrant's outrageous passion for a portrait, or who formed the abominable plan of placing the original within his power?" / "No—for to do so required brain and wit. But it was thine, flimsy villain, to execute the device...1827, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in Chronicles of the Canongate; […], volume II (The Surgeon’s Daughter), Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall...

   Synonyms:

   flighty, silly, trifling, unserious

   Antonyms:

   serious, thoughtful

4. (figuratively, obsolete) Of a person, their physical makeup, or their health: delicate, frail.
   • […] I have a very flimsy constitution, consequently the young women won't taste my wit, and it is a long while before wit makes its own way in the world; especially, as I never prove it, by assuring people that I have it by me.1742 January 17 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Horace Walpole, “Letter XVIII”, in Lord Dover [i.e., George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover], editor, Letters of Horace Walpole Earl of Orford, to Sir...

   Synonyms:

   infirm, sickly, weakly

   Antonyms:

   hale, robust

See all 14 meanings of flimsy