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Synonyms

whit

American  
[hwit, wit] / ʰwɪt, wɪt /

noun

  1. a particle; bit; jot (used especially in negative phrases).

    not a whit better.


Whit 1 British  
/ wɪt /

noun

  1. See Whitsuntide

"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

adjective

  1. of or relating to Whitsuntide

"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
whit 2 British  
/ wɪt /

noun

  1. (usually used with a negative) the smallest particle; iota; jot

    he has changed not a whit

"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

Etymology

Origin of whit

1470–80; perhaps alteration of Middle English wiht wight 1


Explanation

Whit means a small tiny part of something. If you don't even have a whit of courage, you are most likely a chicken. Whit indicates a bit of something, and usually something abstract like a feeling or emotion. You might feel the last whit of your confidence depart when your teacher hands out the 32-page final exam. Don't confuse whit with wit, meaning mental sharpness or keen sense of humor. Let's hope you have more than a whit of wit in your personality!

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Vocabulary lists containing whit

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:

Speculators, in contrast, care not a whit for cash flow; they are focused instead on future stock prices.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2025

And if the ending doesn’t feel entirely earned … well, we had so much fun getting there that it doesn’t matter a whit.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024

As I argue in my new book, at the time of the stand of the 300 at Thermopylae, the Spartans cared not a whit for freedom or liberating others.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2024

But equivocation in a country that doesn’t care a whit if Shakespeare is still on the syllabus can easily pass unnoticed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2023

But he said it as if he didn’t care a whit for them or anyone in the world, for that matter.

From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata

In May, Smith and his brother Whit Smith decided to list their 46-acre property, which they own jointly, for $16 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

Not unlike, say, a Whit Stillman movie or an episode of “Frasier,” it tickles the literary parts of the brain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

Leerink Partners’ Whit Mayo reiterated a Market Perform on the stock, writing that the results “look fine” with a modest beat/raise amid softness in pharmacy benefits.

From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026

“The most important reasons he won in 2024 were his promises to bring inflation down and juice the economy,” Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2025

A few minutes later we called Whit over.

From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds

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