witty
Americanadjective
-
wittier,
comparative
-
wittiest
superlative
-
possessing wit in speech or writing; amusingly clever in perception and expression.
a witty writer.
-
characterized by wit.
a witty remark.
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British Dialect. intelligent; clever
adjective
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characterized by clever humour or wit
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archaic intelligent or sensible
Synonym Usage
See humorous 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of witty
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English wittig originally, “wise”; see wit 1, -y 1
Explanation
A witty remark is clever and funny and timed just right. When you make such a remark, you are also considered to be witty. The adjective witty can be used to describe those quick little funny remarks that often demonstrate a sharp, biting humor delivered in a playful manner. Witty usually describes things that are off-the-cuff amusing, rather than remarks that are elaborate or carefully planned in advance. This adjective is usually used in a complimentary way, but, like its cousin clever, it can be used sarcastically, as when someone who doesn't appreciate your one-liners says, "Well, aren't we witty today."
Vocabulary lists containing witty
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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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:
Stewart said Norman was a proud Coleraine man, community stalwart and a gentleman who was always warm, witty and full of fascinating stories.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
She regularly offered her perceptive and witty insights about life, music, fame and equal rights.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
She’s also so funny and so witty and very charismatic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Mr. Gill looks back at that 1992 interview and others and realizes that the Jeff Beck he thought he knew is a mystery, a self-contradicting trickster with a tendency to be witty and evasive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Four times she asked me that--she was certainly witty.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
“Why should we follow the old ways? Were they so perfect as to leave no room for something bolder, tougher, wittier, more equal and more just?”
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024
Allen, as always, is comfortable in his fat suit, and as before, the television series is better than the movies were — just as silly but much wittier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2023
The thrill of the scene is how it’s wittier than you were expecting it be.
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2020
Low farce is a high calling, and wittier examples such as Michael Frayn’s “Noises Off” do more with wee things like, say, character and story.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2018
“Yes, very soon. He gave me a quiet hint; I told him he was mistaken; he asked my pardon and said no more. Cole does not want to be wiser or wittier than his neighbours.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Ernst Lubitsch is best remembered today for directing some of the wittiest, sauciest Hollywood romantic comedies of the 1930s and ’40s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
Australian-British author of the 1979 novel Puberty Blues, Kathy Lette, remembered Sir Tom as "one of the wittiest people I ever met".
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025
Winifred might be the smartest, wittiest and most brutal psychopath to grace the pages of a comedy of manners that turns into a horror show — all in an age rife with repression.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2025
Just before Wilde’s own courtroom drama, his wittiest play, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” had opened — during a February snowstorm — to an acclaim that has never diminished.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2021
Miss Matilda Maddox, you are the wittiest, most fascinating flower to bloom in Baltimore in years.”
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
