sharp-witted
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sharp-witted
First recorded in 1580–90
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.
Love and larceny combine as Olivia Holt, “a sharp-witted retail worker,” and Connor Swindells, “a down-on-his-luck repairman,” independently plan to rob the same London department store on Christmas Eve.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025
Gwen Crockett said her daughter was a sharp-witted speaker from a young age.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2024
Zephaniah, who was born in Birmingham in central England on April 15, 1958, was a sharp-witted and often provocative presence across British media as well as regularly performing at political gatherings and demonstrations.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
The Financial Times described The Bee Sting as "generous, immersive, sharp-witted and devastating; the sort of novel that becomes a friend for life".
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2023
These workers, illiterate but sharp-witted, who for some reason called themselves The Club, assumed that the better-educated readers looked down on them.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
![]()
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.