wisp

American  

[wisp] / wɪsp /

noun

1. a handful or small bundle of straw, hay, or the like.

2. any thin tuft, lock, mass, etc..

   wisps of hair.

3. a thin puff or streak, as of smoke; slender trace.

4. a person or thing that is small, delicate, or barely discernible.

   a mere wisp of a lad; a wisp of a frown.

5. a whisk broom.

6. Chiefly British Dialect.

   1. a pad or twist of straw, as used to rub down a horse.

   2. a twisted bit of straw used as a torch.

7. a will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus.

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verb (used with object)

1. to twist into a wisp.

wisp ¹ British  

/ wɪsp /

noun

1. a thin, light, delicate, or fibrous piece or strand, such as a streak of smoke or a lock of hair

2. a small bundle, as of hay or straw

3. anything slender and delicate

   a wisp of a girl

4. a mere suggestion or hint

5. a flock of birds, esp snipe

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verb

1. to move or act like a wisp

2. dialect (tr) to twist into a wisp

3. (tr) to groom (a horse) with a wisp of straw, etc

WISP ² British  

/ wɪsp /

acronym

1. Wireless Information Service Provider: an internet service provider set up to deal with and deliver internet services to clients through wireless access points

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Other Word Forms

• wisplike adjective

Etymology

Origin of wisp

1300–50; Middle English wisp, wips; akin to wipe

Example Sentences

Above ground it is a low-slung angular wisp of an object, whose cladding in mirrored steel deprives it of any sense of form or substance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 24, 2025

“A Minecraft Movie” is just a wisp of past glories.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2025

I float cucumber slices in my water and I swear like I feel like I'm getting a little wisp of a spa experience in my otherwise non luxurious life.

From Salon • Jan. 20, 2024

But without a jury of a defendant’s peers performing this profound obligation, our liberty is but a wisp in the wind.

From Slate • Aug. 15, 2023

Sciola’s expression did not change, but a wisp of smoke curled from his nostrils in a manner subtly indicative of surprise.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• tuft