whim-wham

1 9.9

A small decorative object or a playful idea

noun
/ˈwɪmˌwæm/

Archaic

: chuchería

He bought a little whim-wham as a souvenir from his travels.

Examples

She bought a colorful whim-wham from the market.
The antique store was filled with whim-whams from every corner of the world.
She was always coming up with some new whim-wham to amuse her friends.
I love collecting whim-whams from different countries.
She decorated her shelf with fun little whim-whams she found during her travels.
The artist's studio was filled with colorful whim-whams that inspired her creativity.
He brought home a collection of quirky whim-whams from the flea market to brighten up his room.

Synonyms

whim

vswhim-wham

94 4.2

A sudden, unplanned want to do something for no clear reason

is a small decorative or playful notion rather than a sudden impulse

whangdoodle idea

vswhim-wham

Archaic

9.9

A silly, creative idea that would not work in real life

is a light whimsical idea rather than an obviously unrealistic one

whangdoodle

vswhim-wham

Archaic

9.9

An odd gadget that seems useless and hard to understand

is a small decorative trinket rather than a complex gadget

Antonyms

necessity

274 2.0

A thing you need to live, like food or water

utility

63 3.5

The quality of being useful for a particular purpose

How Decorative

ornament

102 1.6

bauble

11 6.7

whim-wham

Archaic

1 9.9

doodad

Informal

7 8.7

Surface Forms

whim-wham singular

whim-whams plural

Morphology

whim-wham = whim + wham (semi-transparent) = whim + wham

The reduplicative compound suggests a whimsical or fanciful quality (from 'whim'), but the specific meaning 'trinket' is idiomatic and not fully deducible.

Etymology

Whim-wham comes from the English word whim, which means 'a sudden, silly idea', and the name uses a playful repeat like in whimsy. So a whim-wham is a small, fancy object or a little odd thing, which is why we use it for trinkets and amusing little items.