wit

¹ American  

[wit] / wɪt /

noun

1. the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure.

   Synonyms:

   drollery

2. speech or writing showing such perception and expression.

   Synonyms:

   raillery , quip , witticism , banter , bon mot , persiflage , badinage , repartee

3. a person having or noted for such perception and expression.

   Synonyms:

   satirist , jester , wag

4. understanding, intelligence, or sagacity.

   Synonyms:

   mind , sense , wisdom

5. Usually wits

   1. powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness.

      using one's wits to get ahead.

   2. mental faculties; senses.

      to lose one's wits;

      frightened out of one's wits.

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idioms

1. at one's wit's end.  at the end of one's ideas or mental resources; perplexed.

   My two-year-old won't eat anything but pizza, and I'm at my wit's end.

2. keep / have one's wits about one,  to remain alert and observant; be prepared for or equal to anything.

   to keep your wits about you in a crisis.

3. live by one's wits,  to provide for oneself by employing ingenuity or cunning; live precariously.

   We traveled around the world, living by our wits.

wit ² American  

[wit] / wɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

PRESENT_SINGULAR_1ST_PERSON

wot

SECOND_PERSON

wost

THIRD_PERSON

wot

PRESENT_PLURAL

wit, wite

PAST_AND_PAST_PARTICIPLE

wist

PRESENT_PARTICIPLE

witting

1. Archaic.  to know.

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idioms

1. to wit,  that is to say; namely.

   It was the time of the vernal equinox, to wit, the beginning of spring.

wit ¹ British  

/ wɪt /

noun

1. the talent or quality of using unexpected associations between contrasting or disparate words or ideas to make a clever humorous effect

2. speech or writing showing this quality

3. a person possessing, showing, or noted for such an ability, esp in repartee

4. practical intelligence (esp in the phrase have the wit to )

5. dialect  information or knowledge (esp in the phrase get wit of )

6. archaic  mental capacity or a person possessing it

7. obsolete  the mind or memory

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wit ² British  

/ wɪt /

verb

1. archaic  to be or become aware of (something)

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adverb

1. that is to say; namely (used to introduce statements, as in legal documents)

wit More Idioms  

1. see at one's wit's end; have one's wits about one; live by one's wits; scare out of one's wits; to wit.

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Related Words

See humor.

Etymology

Origin of wit¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English: “mind, thought”; cognate with German Witz, Old Norse vit; akin to wit ²

Origin of wit²

First recorded before 900; Middle English witen, Old English witan; cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Old Norse vita, Gothic witan to know; akin to Latin vidēre “to see,” Greek oîda (dialect woîda “I know,” and ideîn (dialect wideîn ) “to see,” Sanskrit vidati “(he) knows”; wot

Example Sentences

Few people were more agnostically alive than Stoppard, who loved the finer things in life and handsomely earned them with his inexhaustible wit.

From Los Angeles Times

If you throw in the rhetorical brilliance, the heart and the boundless wit that coursed through his greatest works, his pre-eminence is hard to challenge.

From The Wall Street Journal

To wit: Confidence in Argentina will create a currency that inspires confidence in Argentina.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Real Thing’ has wit, surprise and characters you care about.

From Los Angeles Times

The adjective “Stoppardian” entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1978 to describe writing marked by “elegant wit while addressing philosophical concerns.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• fun
• joke
• satire