whit
noun
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whit
American
[hwit, wit]
/ ʰwɪt, wɪt /
noun
Whit
1
British
/ wɪt /
noun
adjective
whit
2
British
/ wɪt /
noun
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!
Vocabulary lists containing whit
Julius Caesar
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Tuck Everlasting
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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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:
The handwritten lease, rife with misspellings, said he could stay there until he “seatel his case whit Dawntow Law Group.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
Speculators, in contrast, care not a whit for cash flow; they are focused instead on future stock prices.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2025
It won’t make a whit of difference in the outcome.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
The heat had not been cut a whit by the smoke; she began to sweat as she opened the truck canopy and got out her toolkit and flashlight.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2022
They were a dullish white from age, but that did not bother me one whit.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Whit has his own key, which he is holding on to for now.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
If that keeps creeping up, it raises the risk of higher bad debt, says Leerink analyst Whit Mayo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
Leerink Partners analyst Whit Mayo said those factors provided a boost of $1 per share to the company’s earnings.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2025
“There’s no doubt in my mind who I want to be our quarterback,” McVay said on the Fitz & Whit podcast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
"Now remember, these cones won't be on the track. So you're gonna have to learn to eyeball when the transition should happen," Whit said, picking them up.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
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.
