whims
Sudden unplanned urges
Whims are sudden, unpredictable desires or impulses, usually minor and passing: She bought the hat on a whim.
The word suggests caprice rather than reason—decisions made without planning or justification.
Someone ruled by whims is changeable and hard to predict: His whims kept the staff guessing.
The singular whim appears most often after "on a."
Lack of steadfast devotion
- unpredictabilityState resisting forecasts
- arbitrarinessBaseless decision-making quality
- changeabilityTendency to alter frequently
- volatilityRapid, unpredictable changeability
mercuriality · inconstancy · vagary · waywardness · variability · fluctuation · mutability · whimsey
Strong inner drive
- notionImprecise mental impression
- fancyElaborate or decorative
- inclinationDisposition toward something
- desireIntense wanting
itch · yearning · longing · craving · compulsion · hunch · gut feeling · instinct
Conscious fantasy while awake
- fancyElaborate or decorative
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- flight of fancyUnrealistic imaginative indulgence
- reverieAbstracted, pleasant daydream
musing · vision · illusion · dreaminess · phantasy · fantasia · romance · enchantment
Unconventional behavior or nature
- idiosyncrasyDistinctive personal peculiarity
- peculiarityUnusual distinguishing characteristic
- odditySomething unusual or unexpected
- quirkinessUnusual or unexpected trait
kookiness · singularity · unconventionality · offbeat · nonconformity · bizarreness · outlandishness · zaniness
fickleness
Lack of steadfast devotion
- unpredictabilityState resisting forecasts
- arbitrarinessBaseless decision-making quality
- changeabilityTendency to alter frequently
volatility · mercuriality · inconstancy · vagary · waywardness · variability · fluctuation · mutability · whimsey · crotchetiness
urge
Strong inner drive
- notionImprecise mental impression
- fancyElaborate or decorative
- inclinationDisposition toward something
desire · itch · yearning · longing · craving · compulsion · hunch · gut feeling · instinct · drive
daydream
Conscious fantasy while awake
- fancyElaborate or decorative
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- flight of fancyUnrealistic imaginative indulgence
reverie · musing · vision · illusion · dreaminess · phantasy · fantasia · romance · enchantment · castles in the air
eccentricity
Unconventional behavior or nature
- idiosyncrasyDistinctive personal peculiarity
- peculiarityUnusual distinguishing characteristic
- odditySomething unusual or unexpected
quirkiness · kookiness · singularity · unconventionality · offbeat · nonconformity · bizarreness · outlandishness · zaniness · freakishness
- quirkseccentricities, idiosyncrasies, peculiarities, oddities, foibles
- preferencespreferences, prefer, likes, like, liking
- apparitionsghosts, phantoms, specters, wraiths, shades
- flawsfaults, defect, flaw, blemish, flaws
- imaginationimagination, daydreaming, daydreams, fantasies, fantasy
- trendstrends, trend, fad, craze, rage
whimsplans
Intended courses of action
deliberations · calculations · strategies · intentions · designs
whimsconvictions
Strongly held beliefs
commitments · principles · constants · certainties · core values
whimsrealities
Things that exist
necessities · requirements · obligations · needs · hard facts
- on a whimWithout forethought or reason
- whimsical designPlayfully inventive creative approach
- whimsical stylePlayfully unconventional aesthetic approach
- whimsical charactersPlayfully peculiar fictional figures
- whimsical artCreative work emphasizing fancy
- whimsical illustrationsImaginative, playful visual art
whim, whimsical, whimsy, whimsically, whimsicality, whimsies