flimsy
Syllables: flim·syUK/ˈflɪmzi/
flimsy adjective: likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial.
Adjective
flimsy (comparative flimsier or more flimsy, superlative flimsiest or most flimsy)
- Likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial.
- 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!1775 January 17 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The Rivals, a Comedy. […], London: […] John Wilkie, […], published 1775, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 20
- 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
- She was wearing the flimsiest blouse and faded jeans.2016, Mike Scantlebury, chapter 12, in Prince William (at Olympics 2012) (Amelia Hartliss Mysteries; 3), [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 203
- Of an argument, explanation, etc.: ill-founded, unconvincing, weak; also, unimportant; paltry, trivial.
- a flimsy excuse
- the flimsiest of theories
- Synonyms:
- feeble, unfounded, unsubstantiated
- Antonyms:
- well-founded, substantiated
- 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...
- Poor, flimsy, wise, foolish, aristocratical, old-bachelor Horace Walpole, is shocked at his nephew [George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford?] marrying an actress who brought him good children, […]1847, Leigh Hunt, “Duchess of St. Albans [Harriet Mellon], and Marriages from the Stage”, in Men, Women, and Books; a Selection of Sketches, Essays, and Critical Memoirs, […], volume I, London...
- Antonyms:
- serious, thoughtful
- 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...
Noun
flimsy (countable and uncountable, plural flimsies)
- A thing which is ill-founded, unconvincing, or weak.
- Is every body incapable of reaſon, and making a right eſtimate of the merits of men? caught vvith mere outſide? chooſing the flimſy before the ſubſtantial?1794, William Godwin, chapter V, in Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams. […], volume I, London: […] B. Crosby, […], →OCLC, page 96
- Thin typing paper used together with carbon paper in a typewriter to make multiple copies of a document; (countable) a sheet of such paper.
- “‘Pray, miss,’ he said, ‘do not interrupt me. I represent the Press. The Fourth Estate, miss. I’m afraid I shan’t have enough flimsy.’ “Those were his very words, Kate. By flimsy, I learn that he meant writing paper. Do our great poets—does my adored [Alfred, Lord] Tennyson write on ‘flimsy?’[”]1872, [Walter Besant, James Rice], chapter 8, in Ready-money Mortiboy. A Matter-of-fact Story. […], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, pages 125–126
- I had just finished breakfast and was filling my pipe when I got Bullivant's telegram. […] I flung him the flimsy with the blue strip pasted down on it, and he whistled.1916, John Buchan, “A Mission is Proposed”, in Greenmantle, London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 1
- A service certificate.
- A perusal of the comments of officers under whom he [Captain Duncan Herbert Stevens] has served as recorded in his “flimsies" indicates that he has almost consistently received high commendation for his service.1964 August 13, John [Armstrong] Spicer, Commissioner, “Officers Principally Concerned”, in Report of Royal Commissioner on Loss of H.M.A.S. “Voyager” (Papers Presented to Parliament; XIII)...
- Regulations required a commanding officer to render annual confidential reports on the character and ability of his officers – with particular reference to sobriety – on forms known as ‘flimsies’.1994, John Wells, “The Community of the Mid-Victorian Navy”, in The Royal Navy: An Illustrated Social History 1870–1982, Stroud, Gloucestershire; Dover, N.H.: Alan Sutton Publishing in association...
- A banknote; (uncountable) paper money.
- In English Exchequer-bills full half a million, / Not “kites,” manufactured to cheat and inveigle, / But the right sort of ‘flimsy,’ all sign’d by Monteagle.1842 April, Thomas Ingoldsby [pseudonym; Richard Harris Barham], “The Merchant of Venice. A Legend of Italy.”, in Bentley’s Miscellany, volume XI, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 430
- THE THIEVES' ALPHABET. […] Q was a Queer-screen, that served as a blind;†† / R was a Reader,‡‡ with flimsies well lined; […]1845, George W[illiam] M[acArthur] Reynolds, “The Old House in Smithfield Again”, in The Mysteries of London, volume I, London: Geo[rge] Vickers, […], →OCLC, page 60, column 1
- The text to be set into pages of magazines, newspapers, etc.; copy.
- [page 31] Sub-editors are now hard at work cutting down "flimsy," ramming sheets of "copy" on files, endlessly conferring with perspiring foremen. […] [page 34] The last report from the late debate in the Commons has come in; the last paragraph of interesting news, dropped into the box by a...1859, George Augustus Sala, “Five o’Clock a.m.—The Publication of the ‘Times’ Newspaper”, in Twice Round the Clock; or The Hours of the Day and Night in London. […], London: Houlston and Wright, […]...
- A 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.
- But the Q[uartermaster] has ballsed-up T3 patrol's fuel ration; instead of jerry cans we get "flimsies," the notorious four-gallon containers made of metal so thin you can practically puncture it with a fingernail. Flimsies come two to a case, packed in cardboard. Of seventy-six that Collier's crew...2008, Steven Pressfield, chapter 10, in Killing Rommel […], New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, →ISBN, page 98
Verb
flimsy (third-person singular simple present flimsies, present participle flimsying, simple past and past participle flimsied)
- To make (something) likely to be easily damaged.
- Its method may be roughly said to be the invention, at all events for the main characters in their novels, of a psychology so tortuous and devious that its fantastic contours cannot be fitted into any single act or situation of or in life without an elaborate apparatus of dissertation. The artistic...1926 February 21, “Feminist furor: Three Kingdoms. By Storm Jameson. 365 pp. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. [book review]”, in The New York Times (Book review section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times...
- [W]hen he [A[rthur] Ernest Fitzgerald] tried to check reports that Lockheed was seriously "flimsying" the plane's construction, he received an angry call from Pentagon brass warning him, in effect, to keep out of engineering matters.1981, James Nathan Miller, “Buying and Selling at the Pentagon”, in Marc Holzer, Ellen Doree Rosen, editors, Current Cases in Public Administration, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →ISBN, section IV...
- To 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.
- An interview is not a speech. […] If a man wants to publish an allocution of this kind, he should write it out and give it to me, or anyone else—a newsagency for example—and it will be "flimsied" to most of our English daily papers, whose conductors would, of course, use their own discretion as to...1895 November, Frank Banfield, “Interviewing in Practice”, in The National Review, volume XXVI, number 153, London: Edward Arnold, […], →OCLC, page 368
- Did you, as a matter of fact, receive pages 55 and 56 at the same time?—I cannot say that I did. / But if you had received them?—I should have flimsied them with this. / As they are not flimsied, what do you say?—All I can presume is that they were not there. I should not have separated one paper...1904 June 16, [Robert Wallace] Best, chairman and questioner; William Chessell, witness, “Select Committee. Privilege: Case of Senator Lt.-Col. [John Cash] Neild. Minutes of Evidence.”, in Journals...
- To treat (someone or something) as paltry or unimportant; to demean, to underestimate.
- What she sacrificed in energy, emotion and integrity, diminished her rather than excelled. […] Teri suddenly saw herself flimsied by bargains she had negotiated too readily.2008, Jill Stephenson, “Out of Order”, in One Life Passes for Another, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, section 8, page 272
flimsy meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Malayalam
flimsy in Tamil
- அற்ப, உறுதியற்ற
flimsy in Marathi
- flimsy, fragile
- कमजोर kamjor
flimsy in Urdu
- پھس پھسا
flimsy in Malayalam
- ലോലമായ, ദുർബ്ബലം, യുക്തിബലമില്ലാത്ത, വിശ്വാസയോഗ്യമായ, അല്പമായ
More languagesFewer languages
- flimsy in Kannada
- ತೆಳ್ಳಗಿನ, ಸುಳು ಅಳಿವ, ಗಟ್ಟಿಯಿಲ್ಲದ, ತೆಳುವಾದ
- flimsy in Nepali
- फ्लिमसी
Examples of flimsy in a sentence
- 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.1782, William Cowper, “Retirement”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 290:
- [T]here always comes a day when the rouſed publick indignation kicks their flimſy edifice down, and ſends its cowardly enemies a-flying.1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Recapitulations”, in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. […] , volume II, London: […] Smith, Elder, &...
- There was no need, for the flimsy clasp gave at the first pull, and the sashes swung open.1916, John Buchan, “Sparrows on the Housetops”, in Greenmantle, London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 239:
- I’ve flown in flimsy microlights, soaring serenely above rich farmland.2020 December 5, Nic Robertson, “Saudi Arabia has changed beyond recognition. But will tourists want to visit?”, in CNN, archived from the...
Synonyms of flimsy
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of flimsy
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | flimsier |
| comparative | more flimsy |
| superlative | flimsiest |
| superlative | most flimsy |
| Noun | |
| plural | flimsies |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | flimsies |
| present participle | flimsying |
| past participle | flimsied |
| past | flimsied |
Origin of flimsy
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.
Words formed from flimsy
- flim
- flimsies
- flimsify
- flimsily
- flimsiness
- mimsy
- slimsy
- unflimsy
- soft flimsy
Words that rhyme with flimsy
Questions about flimsy
- What does flimsy mean?
- Flimsy means likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial.
- What is flimsy in Tamil?
- Flimsy in Tamil is அற்ப, உறுதியற்ற. See Flimsy meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use flimsy in a sentence?
- 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.
- What part of speech is flimsy?
- Flimsy can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce flimsy?
- Flimsy is pronounced /ˈflɪmzi/ (UK).
Words near flimsy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: flimsy (page history and authors); flimsy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कमजोर (Marathi) (page history and authors); flimsy (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flimsy (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flimsy (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flimsy (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-flimsy.ogg.
Cite this entry: “flimsy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flimsy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.