Thin and weak; not strong or sturdy; easily damaged or unconvincing.
Origin uncertain, possibly from Scandinavian roots or related to 'film.' First appeared in English around the 1600s with the sense of 'thin' or 'insubstantial.'
The exact origin of 'flimsy' is a mystery even to linguists—it might come from the same root as 'film' (both meaning thin), but no one knows for sure, which is actually pretty fitting for a word that describes something so insubstantial it barely leaves a trace.
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