wits
plural noun
(sometimes singular) the ability to reason and act, esp quickly (esp in the phrase have one's wits about one )
wits
1 British
/ wɪts /
plural noun
-
(sometimes singular) the ability to reason and act, esp quickly (esp in the phrase have one's wits about one )
-
(sometimes singular) right mind, sanity (esp in the phrase out of one's wits )
-
at a loss to know how to proceed
-
obsolete the five senses or mental faculties
-
to gain a livelihood by craftiness and cunning rather than by hard work
Wits
2
British
/ wɪts /
noun
Explanation
Your wits are your ability to think clearly and quickly. If the class lizard escapes, you can panic — or you can keep your wits, calmly catch him in a box, and return him to his terrarium. The word wits is used to describe a person's collective mental faculties. If you hang onto your wits in an emergency, that means you remain resourceful and capable. On the other hand, if haunted houses scare you out of your wits, you will probably lose your ability to keep calm and collected at the first sight of a vampire. Wits, like wit, derives from the Old English gewit, "understanding or sense."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One of the most famous episodes in Homer’s poem finds Odysseus and his men facing the Cyclops Polyphemus in his cave, where their struggle becomes a battle of wits: lies, taunts, a drunken ruse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Readers will undoubtedly become better acquainted with the variety of American Christianity but will have to use their own wits to find patterns or hear harmonies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
Nanos warned residents in Guthrie's affluent Catalina Foothills neighbourhood to "keep your wits about you".
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
I am reasonably educated, and at 64, I still have most of my wits.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026
If he was speaking the truth, he had had wits enough to escape the destruction of his warren and survive a long journey through open country.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Professor Andrew Forbes of Wits University, the study's corresponding author, says the transformation in this field over the past 20 years has been remarkable.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2026
“It looked like a Mad Max movie,” said Rudi Deysel, chief executive of West Wits Mining WWI -0.63%decrease; red down pointing triangle , the Australian company that owns the mine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
In South Africa, where one in five adults lives with HIV, a Wits University research unit oversaw the rollout as part of an initiative funded by Unitaid, the United Nations health agency.
From Barron's ● Dec. 1, 2025
The agreement announced on Wednesday was reached between the Clinton Foundation in partnership with the Gates Foundation and other groups, including South Africa's research institute, Wits RHI.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025
He once told me that I should not be at Wits but studying for my degree through UNISA.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
