wit

¹ American  

[wit] / wɪt /

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.

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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.

wit ² American  

[wit] / wɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

wot, present (1st person singular), present (3rd person singular) wost, present (2nd person singular) wite, present (plural) witting present participle

1. Archaic. to know.

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idioms

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

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

wit ¹ British  

/ 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

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wit ² British  

/ wɪt /

verb

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

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adverb

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

wit More Idioms  

1. 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.

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Synonym Usage

See humor.

Other Word Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

• witting
  participle
• wot
  singular 3rd person

Etymology

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”; see wot

Explanation

Wit is brainpower or mental ability, or the person who possesses such ability, especially when it's used humorously. When we are scared out of our wits, we — figuratively, anyway — lose for a moment our mental faculties. When we are at our wits' end, we have run out of ideas or possible solutions to a frustrating situation. When we outwit someone, we make the smarter decision. Historical figures known for their wit include Voltaire, Oscar Wilde, and Mark Twain.

Example Sentences

So when WIT put in-person events on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic, the theater took advantage of something rarely afforded in the quick-on-your-feet world of improvised comedy: time to think.

From Washington Post • Jul. 30, 2021

Its popularity led to the creation, under Ryan's guidance, of WIT lists in 52 other communities in 19 countries, including India, Ireland, Poland and Taiwan.

From Time Magazine Archive

IT WIT An itsy-bitsy problem Used to give me fits.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Behold yourself therein, and view and pry: Mark what defects it will discover and descry; And so with judgment ripe and curious eye, What is amiss endeavour to supply, Farewell— WIT.

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by Hazlitt, William Carew

WIT is the Lustre resulting from the quick Elucidation of one Subject, by a just and unexpected Arrangement of it with another Subject.

From An Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Humour, Railery, Satire, and Ridicule (1744) by Clifford, James L.

Related Words

• fun
• joke
• satire