flimsy
Part of speech: adj
Morphological type: derivation
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.
Affixes: -sy
Inflected forms:
form: flimsier
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more flimsy
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: flimsiest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most flimsy
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
I’ve flown in flimsy microlights, soaring serenely above rich farmland. I’ve ridden tactical combat helicopters missions, skimming the desert floor and banking hard around sand dunes.
gloss: Likely to bend or break under pressure; easily damaged; frail, unsubstantial.
pos: adj
examples: 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: […]
She was wearing the flimsiest blouse and faded jeans.
gloss: Of an argument, explanation, etc.: ill-founded, unconvincing, weak; also, unimportant; paltry, trivial.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: a flimsy excuse
the flimsiest of theories
VVho ſhames a Scribler? break one cobvveb thro', / He ſpins the ſlight, ſelf-pleaſing thread anevv; / Deſtroy his Fib, or Sophiſtry; in vain, / The Creature's at his dirty vvork again; / Thron'd in the Centre of his thin deſigns; / Proud of a vaſt Extent of flimzy lines.
And hovvever flimzey this title, and thoſe of VVilliam Rufus [William II of England] and Stephen of Blois [Stephen, King of England], may appear at this diſtance to us, after the lavv of deſcents hath novv been ſettled for ſo many centuries, they vvere ſufficient to puzzle the underſtandings of our brave, but unlettered, anceſtors.
gloss: Of a person: lacking depth of character or understanding; frivolous, superficial.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: "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 which a bolder genius planned; it was thine to entice the woman to this foreign shore, under pretence of a love, which, on thy part, cold-blooded miscreant, never had existed."
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, […]
gloss: Of a person, their physical makeup, or their health: delicate, frail.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
obsolete
examples: […] 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.
Derived words: flim
flimsies
flimsify
flimsily
flimsiness
mimsy
slimsy
unflimsy
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: breekbare
lang: Bulgarian
word: чуплив
roman: čupliv
lang: Bulgarian
word: крехък
roman: krehǎk
lang: Bulgarian
word: слаб
roman: slab
lang: Czech
word: chatrný
lang: Czech
word: křehký
lang: Danish
word: spinkel
lang: Danish
word: skrøbelig
lang: Dutch
word: breekbaar
lang: Finnish
word: hatara
lang: Finnish
word: heppoinen
lang: French
word: fragile
lang: French
word: frêle
lang: German
word: dünn
lang: German
word: hauchdünn
lang: German
word: leicht
lang: German
word: schwach
lang: German
word: zart
lang: German
word: zerbrechlich
lang: Latin
word: fragilis
lang: Māori
word: kopī
lang: Māori
word: kōpīpī
lang: Māori
word: marore
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: spinkel
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: spinkel
lang: Plautdietsch
word: pukrich
lang: Portuguese
word: frágil
lang: Portuguese
word: receoso
lang: Portuguese
word: trémulo
lang: Russian
word: хлипкий
roman: xlipkij
lang: Russian
word: хру́пкий
roman: xrúpkij
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: slab
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: krhak
lang: Spanish
word: endeble
lang: Spanish
word: poco sólido
lang: Spanish
word: tembleque
lang: Spanish
word: enclenque
lang: Spanish
word: cañinque
lang: Spanish
word: caedizo