Flimsy

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈflɪmzi/

Definitions

1. Lacking strength, substance, or durability; easily damaged or unconvincing
2. Easily broken or damaged due to insufficient strength or material quality, resulting in minimal support or credibility
3. Not sturdy in nature, implying a lack of resilience or solidness, which may suggest a weak argument or unreliable structure

Etymology: The adjective "flimsy" is one of those words whose origin lexicographers still cannot pin down. Its most likely source is "flim-flam," a word for nonsense, trickery, or a deceptive pretence, which suggests that something flimsy was once thought of as something that did not hold up to scrutiny, much like a con. An alternative explanation treats the word as a shuffled form of "film," a thin layer or slender thread, with the adjective-forming suffix "-sy" added at the end. The word's most vivid life was in the military. The noun "flimsy" came to mean a thin, cheap sheet of paper, and a metal container was also called a flimsy. These containers often split along their seams and leaked, so the name stuck to anything that broke easily. Soldiers in the North African Campaign of the Second World War used such cans to carry fuel, and a 1942 photograph shows a British soldier refuelling a tank from one.

Synonyms: weak, fragile, inadequate

Antonyms: sturdy, strong, robust