wit

1
[ wit ]
See synonyms for wit on Thesaurus.com
noun

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

  2. speech or writing showing such perception and expression.

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

  2. understanding, intelligence, or sagacity.

  3. Usually wits .

    • powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness: using one's wits to get ahead.

    • mental faculties; senses: to lose one's wits;frightened out of one's wits.

Idioms about wit

  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.

  1. 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.

Origin of wit

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English: “mind, thought”; cognate with German Witz, Old Norse vit; akin to wit2

synonym study For wit

See humor.

Other words for wit

Words that may be confused with wit

Words Nearby wit

Other definitions for wit (2 of 2)

wit2
[ wit ]
verb (used with or without object),present singular 1st person wot,2nd wost,3rd wot,present plural wit or wite;past and past participle wist;present participle wit·ting.

  1. Archaic. to know.

Origin of wit

2
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”; see wot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wit in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wit (1 of 2)

wit1

/ (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

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

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

  3. Scot and Northern English dialect information or knowledge (esp in the phrase get wit of)

  4. archaic mental capacity or a person possessing it

  5. obsolete the mind or memory

Origin of wit

1
Old English witt; related to Old Saxon giwitt, Old High German wizzi (German Witz), Old Norse vit, Gothic witi. See wit ²

British Dictionary definitions for wit (2 of 2)

wit2

/ (wɪt) /

verb

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

adverb

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

Origin of wit

2
Old English witan; related to Old High German wizzan (German wissen), Old Norse vita, Latin vidēre to see

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with wit

wit

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.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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