Walter Mitty

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 3, 2007 is: Walter Mitty • \wawl-ter-MITT-ee\ • noun : a commonplace unadventurous person who seeks escape from reality through daydreaming Examples: "Many readers seem to be Walter Mittys, content to experience danger vicariously." (James Kelly, Time Magazine, August 19, 1985) Did you know? The original "Walter Mitty" was created by humorist James Thurber, who wrote the 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, which was first published in The New Yorker in 1939, was later made into a movie. Walter Mitty has since become the eponym for dreamers who imagine themselves in dramatic or heroic situations. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.