whimsical

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 1, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>whimsical</strong> &#149; \WIM-zih-kul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p>Something described as <em>whimsical</em> is unusual in a playful or amusing way.</p> <p>// Her younger sister’s <em>whimsical</em> sense of humor often leaves her friends giggling at the lunch table, as when she built a castle out of her mashed potatoes, complete with a moat. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whimsical">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“You match with an attractive person on a dating app and exchange a few messages. Then, without warning, a dizzying daydream pops in your head. Walks on the beach together, picnic lunches, moonlit city strolls, all leading up to a <em>whimsical</em> wedding fantasy.” — David Oliver, <em>USA Today</em>, 24 May 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Even the origin of <em>whimsical</em> is whimsical: its ultimate source (by way of the noun <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whimsy"><em>whimsy</em></a>) is the now-obscure <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whim-wham"><em>whim-wham</em></a>, a noun from the early 16th century that first referred to an ornamental object or trinket, and later to an eccentric impulse or interest—that is, to what in modern terms can be called a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whim">whim</a>. The origin of <em>whim-wham</em> isn’t clear, but it’s among a class of words known as <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reduplication">reduplications</a>, words that are formed by repeating a word, as in <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/go-go"><em>go-go</em></a>, or by adding to a word one that sounds very similar to it, as in <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/