Link Centre Dictionary

flimsy

US/ˈflɪmzi/ uncommon dated obsolete slang uk
adjective (4) noun (1)

adjective

1.

lacking solidity or strength

  • “a flimsy table”
  • “flimsy construction”
  • “a fragile link with the past”
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2.

having little substance or significance

  • “a flimsy excuse”
  • “slight evidence”
  • “a tenuous argument”
  • “a thin plot”
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3.

very thin and insubstantial

  • “thin paper”
  • “flimsy voile”
  • “light summer dresses”
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4.

resembling cardboard especially in flimsiness

  • “apartments with cardboard walls”
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noun

1.

a thin strong light-weight translucent paper used especially for making carbon copies

Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • soft flimsy

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.