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Whimsy vs Jest - What's the difference?

whimsy | jest | Related terms |

Whimsy is a related term of jest.


As nouns the difference between whimsy and jest

is that whimsy is a quaint and fanciful idea a whim playfully odd behaviour while jest is (archaic) an act performed for amusement; a joke.

As verbs the difference between whimsy and jest

is that whimsy is to fill with whimsies or whims; to make fantastic; to craze while jest is to tell a joke; to talk in a playful manner; to make fun of something or someone .

whimsy

English

Alternative forms

* whimsey

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A quaint and fanciful idea. A whim. Playfully odd behaviour.
    • The whimsies of poets and painters. — Ray.
    Men's folly, whimsies , and inconstancy. — Swift.
    Mistaking the whimseys of a feverish brain for the calm revelation of truth. — Bancroft.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 27 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=It’s a lovely sequence cut too short because the show seems afraid to give itself over to romance and whimsy and wistfulness when it has wedgie jokes to deliver. }}
  • An impulsive, illogical or capricious character.
  • (mining) A whim.

    • Verb

  • To fill with whimsies or whims; to make fantastic; to craze.
  • * J. Fletcher
    • To have a man's brain whimsied with his wealth.

    jest

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) An act performed for amusement; a joke.
  • * Sheridan
    • The Right Honourable gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests , and to his imagination for his facts.
  • (archaic) Someone or something that is ridiculed; the target of a joke.
    • Your majesty, stop him before he makes you the jest of the court.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Then let me be your jest ; I deserve it.
  • (obsolete) A deed; an action; a gest.
  • * Sir T. Elyot
    • the jests or actions of princes
  • (obsolete) A mask; a pageant; an interlude.
    • (Nares)
  • * Kyd
    • He promised us, in honour of our guest, / To grace our banquet with some pompous jest .

    Synonyms

    * (joke) prank, gag, laughingstock, banter, crack, wisecrack, witticism * See also

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To tell a joke; to talk in a playful manner; to make fun of something or someone.
    • Surely you jest !

    Synonyms

    * (to joke) banter, kid, mock, tease

    Derived terms

    * (l) * (l)

    See also

    * (wikipedia "jest")

    Anagrams

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