Word of the Day

: April 15, 2014

Walter Mitty

noun WAWL-ter-MIT-ee

What It Means

: a commonplace unadventurous person who seeks escape from reality through daydreaming

Walter Mitty in Context

Alan is a Walter Mitty who loves to read travel books but rarely ventures beyond the limits of his own small town.

"Ralphie eventually has to resort to his own Walter Mitty-esque flights of fancy to deal with his real-life predicament." - From an article by Bill Eggert in The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pennsylvania), December 14, 2013

Did You Know?

The original Walter Mitty was created by humorist James Thurber in his famous story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." In Walter's real life, he is a reticent, henpecked proofreader befuddled by everyday life. But in his fantasies, Walter imagines himself as various daring and heroic characters. Thurber's popular story was first published in The New Yorker in 1939. "Walter Mitty" has since become the eponym for dreamers who imagine themselves in dramatic or heroic situations.