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As a kid, I always wanted to be lots of things. I was a Walter Mitty type. I wanted to be in the French Foreign Legion, a detective, a doctor, a test pilot with a scarf, a fisherman who hauled in a tremendous marlin after a 12-hour fight.
Jonathan Winters

Meaning of "Walter Mitty" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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PRONUNCIATION OF WALTER MITTY

Walter Mitty play
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WHAT DOES WALTER MITTY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Walter Mitty

Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World and Welcome to It in 1942. Thurber loosely based the character on his friend, Walter Mithoff. It was made into a film in 1947, with a remake directed by and starring Ben Stiller released in 2013. Mitty is a meek, mild man with a vivid fantasy life: in a few dozen paragraphs he imagines himself a wartime pilot, an emergency-room surgeon, and a devil-may-care killer. The character's name has come into more general use to refer to an ineffectual dreamer, appearing in several dictionaries. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Walter Mitty as "an ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs". The most famous of Thurber's inept male protagonists, the character is considered "the archetype for dreamy, hapless, Thurber Man". Although the story has humorous elements, there is a darker and more significant message underlying the text, leading to a more tragic interpretation of the Mitty character.

Definition of Walter Mitty in the English dictionary

The definition of Walter Mitty in the dictionary is a fictional character given to grand and elaborate fantasies; daydreamer.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE WALTER MITTY

Walpole
Walpurgis Night
walrus
walrus moustache
Walsall
Walsh
Walsingham
Walter
Waltham Forest
Walther von der Vogelweide
Walton
walty
waltz
waltz Matilda
waltzer
waltzlike
Walvis Bay

WORDS THAT END LIKE WALTER MITTY

ambitty
bitty
chitty
ditty
gritty
itty-bitty
kitty
Mitty
nitty
nitty-gritty
shitty
slitty
the nitty-gritty
titty
tough titty
unwitty
witty

Synonyms and antonyms of Walter Mitty in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «Walter Mitty» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF WALTER MITTY

Find out the translation of Walter Mitty to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of Walter Mitty from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «Walter Mitty» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

瓦尔特米提
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

Walter Mitty
570 millions of speakers

English

Walter Mitty
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

वाल्टर Mitty
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

والتر Mitty
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

Уолтер Митти
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

Walter Mitty
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

ওয়াল্টার মিটি
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

Walter Mitty
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Walter Mitty
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Walter Mitty
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

ウォルターMitty
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

월터 Mitty
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Walter Mitty
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

Walter Mitty
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

வால்டர் மிட்டி
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

वॉल्टर मिटी
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Walter Mitty
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

Walter Mitty
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

Walter Mitty
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

Уолтер Мітті
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

Walter Mitty
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

Walter Mitty
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

Walter Mitty
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

Walter Mitty
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

Walter Mitty
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of Walter Mitty

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «WALTER MITTY»

The term «Walter Mitty» is quite widely used and occupies the 44.568 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
80
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «Walter Mitty» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of Walter Mitty
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «Walter Mitty».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «WALTER MITTY» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «Walter Mitty» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «Walter Mitty» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about Walter Mitty

EXAMPLES

QUOTES WITH «WALTER MITTY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word Walter Mitty.
1
Jonathan Winters
As a kid, I always wanted to be lots of things. I was a Walter Mitty type. I wanted to be in the French Foreign Legion, a detective, a doctor, a test pilot with a scarf, a fisherman who hauled in a tremendous marlin after a 12-hour fight.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «WALTER MITTY»

Discover the use of Walter Mitty in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to Walter Mitty and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (film tie-in)
The very best of James Thurber's hilarious short stories and essays, to tie-in with the major new film starring Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig.
James Thurber, 2013
2
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Other Pieces
James Thurber is universally admired for his hilarious sense of humour, off - beat imagination and unique take on the world around him.
‎2000
3
James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”: A garden ...
The expression “to lead someone up the garden path” means “to deliberately deceive someone”. Manfred Jahn analysed this short story with respect to his garden path short story theory.
Anastasia Deibert, 2008
4
The Man Who Was Walter Mitty: The Life and Work of James Thurber
The first literary and personal biography of James Thurber in 25 years, The Man Who Was Walter Mitty offers new insights into the man who has been caled "America's Twentieth Century Mark Twain."
Thomas Fensch, 2001
5
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Shmoop Literature Guide
These interactive study guides will help you discover and rediscover some of the greatest works of all time. For more info, check out http://www.shmoop.com/literature/
‎2010
6
Fantastic Worlds : Myths, Tales, and Stories: Myths, Tales, ...
“What are you driving so fast fori1" “Hmm?” said Walter Mitty. He looked at his wife, in the seat beside him, with shocked astonishment. She seemed grossly unfamiliar, like a strange woman who had yelled at him in a crowd. “You were up to ...
Eric S. Rabkin, 1979
7
Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," first published in the New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World and Welcome to It in 1942.
Jesse Russell, Ronald Cohn, 2012
8
Laughter and Liberation
Recall, in comparison, James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." A meek, henpecked husband indulges in dreams of glory. Cowering under his wife's dominion, in his fantasy he becomes a daring aviator, a gifted surgeon, ...
Mindness, Harvey
9
Culture and the Real: Theorizing Cultural Criticism
WALTER MITTY There was a time when Hollywood knew the difference between fact and fiction, the story's 'reality' and dreams. In 1947, for example, Danny Kaye charmed cinema audiences as Walter Mitty, the irrepressible day-dreamer, ...
Catherine Belsey, 2005
10
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Short Story
Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short stories collection to build your digital library.
James Thurber, 2014

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «WALTER MITTY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term Walter Mitty is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Dream over for Walter Mitty bank boss who stole £90000
A “WALTER MITTY” bank manager who swindled almost £90,000 from his branch to fund a lifestyle of foreign holidays and luxury goods has been jailed for 22 ... «Express.co.uk, Jul 15»
2
'Female Walter Mitty' Labour candidate is jailed for £120000 festival …
Fantasist Charmaine Bowers, 23, who was described by a judge as a 'female Walter Mitty', tricked more than 300 people into handing over cash for bogus ... «Daily Mail, May 15»
3
Review: 'Secret Life Of Walter Mitty' Comes Home With Iceland …
In my review last year for Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, I noted it was fun and charming while delivering a touching emotional journey for the lead ... «Forbes, Apr 14»
4
'Walter Mitty': See Stiller, Scott and Stretch scuffle
It's been 75 years since the New Yorker published James Thurber's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but the short story still resonates. The tale of an ordinary ... «USA TODAY, Apr 14»
5
'Hector and the Search for Happiness' Trailer: Simon Pegg Gets His …
If Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty had been a little less daydream-y and a little more British, it probably would have looked a lot like Peter Chelsom's ... «/FILM, Feb 14»
6
Nigel Farage vows to crack down on Ukip's 'Walter Mitty' candidates …
Nigel Farage has vowed to crack-down on Ukip's “Walter Mitty” candidates who jeopardise the party's image as he prepares a campaigning offensive ahead of ... «The Independent, Jan 14»
7
Does new Walter Mitty reflect a diminished idea of heroism? Kevin …
Ben Stiller, as the title character in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” passes an imagined magazine cover showing Mitty as an astronaut. The movie's main ... «Los Angeles Daily News, Jan 14»
8
Oscars Host Ellen DeGeneres Linked to Leaked 'Walter Mitty' Screener
On Wednesday, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty began appearing online. It took less than 24 hours before the leak was connected to Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres ... «Hollywood Reporter, Jan 14»
9
Film Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Ben Stiller's “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," a refinishing of James Thurber's short story, opens in the slate gray world of corporate LIFE magazine where ... «Duke Chronicle, Jan 14»
10
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Searches for—And Never Quite Finds …
I commend Ben Stiller for trying something in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty—an adaptation of the 1939 James Thurber story, written by Steve Conrad and ... «Slate Magazine, Jan 14»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Walter Mitty [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/walter-mitty>. Apr 2024 ».
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