wit

¹

[wit]

noun

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

   Synonyms: drollery

2. speech or writing showing such perception and expression.

   Synonyms: raillery, quip, witticism, banter, bon mot, persiflage, badinage, repartee

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

   Synonyms: satirist, jester, wag

4. understanding, intelligence, or sagacity.

   Synonyms: mind, sense, wisdom

5. Usually wits

   1. powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness.

      using one's wits to get ahead.

   2. mental faculties; senses.

      to lose one's wits;

      frightened out of one's wits.

wit

²

[wit]

verb (used with or without object)

present-singular-1st-person

wot ,

second-person

wost ,

third-person

wot ,

present-plural

wit, wite ,

past-and-past-participle

wist ,

present-participle

witting .

1. Archaic.,  to know.

wit

¹

/ 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

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

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

5. dialect,  information or knowledge (esp in the phrase get wit of )

6. archaic,  mental capacity or a person possessing it

7. obsolete,  the mind or memory

wit

²

/ wɪt /

verb

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

adverb

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of wit¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English: “mind, thought”; cognate with German Witz, Old Norse vit; akin to wit ²

Origin of wit²

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”; wot

Word History and Origins

Origin of wit¹

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

Origin of wit²

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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.

3. 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.

4. to wit, that is to say; namely.

   It was the time of the vernal equinox, to wit, the beginning of spring.

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.

Synonym Study

See humor.

Example Sentences

Bondi probably wowed him with her snotty tone and histrionics, even as her wit left much to be desired.

Read more on Salon

From Reds and Manhattan to Baby Boom, Father of the Bride and The First Wives Club, she embodied complex characters who balanced wit and vulnerability.

Read more on Salon

Gannon-Doak is Scotland's flying machine, the man-child who was supposed to scare the wits out of the Greeks with his speed and his daring, and electrify Hampden with his personality.

Read more on BBC

"You think you know these people," Winkleman reflected, "and then you watch them play this game, and I was awestruck by the way they played it - with empathy, with wit and with real smarts."

Read more on BBC

However, as long as there are humans writing, there will also be books filled with wit and joy.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fun 
• joke 
• satire