flimsy
To make likely to be easily damagedTo make (something) likely to be easily damaged.
» There was only a flimsy latch on the gate.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(dated, historical, transitive)To make (something) likely to be easily damaged.
(dated, historical, transitive)To type or write (text) on a flimsy (“sheet of thin typing paper used together with carbon paper in a typewriter to make multiple copies of a document”) (noun sense 2); to distribute such flimsies.
(dated, figuratively, historical, transitive)To treat (someone or something) as paltry or unimportant; to demean, to underestimate.
Examples
13 sentencesThere was only a flimsy latch on the gate.
It's a bit flimsy.
You will open a flimsy brown door.
ruВы откроете хлипкую коричневую дверь. — astru
It was a flimsy excuse at best.
The flimsy cordon failed to keep back the protestors.
Origin
The origin of the adjective is uncertain; it is possibly from flim(-flam) (“(noun) false iThe 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).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
flimsies, flimsying, flimsied, flimsiedLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.