wit
1 Americannoun
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wits
plural
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the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure.
- Synonyms:
- drollery
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speech or writing showing such perception and expression.
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a person having or noted for such perception and expression.
-
understanding, intelligence, or sagacity.
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Usually wits
-
powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness.
using one's wits to get ahead.
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mental faculties; senses.
to lose one's wits;
frightened out of one's wits.
-
idioms
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
verb (used with or without object)
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wot,
present (1st person singular), present (3rd person singular)
-
wost,
present (2nd person singular)
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wist,
past, past participle
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witting
present participle
idioms
noun
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the talent or quality of using unexpected associations between contrasting or disparate words or ideas to make a clever humorous effect
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speech or writing showing this quality
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a person possessing, showing, or noted for such an ability, esp in repartee
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practical intelligence (esp in the phrase have the wit to )
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dialect information or knowledge (esp in the phrase get wit of )
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archaic mental capacity or a person possessing it
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obsolete the mind or memory
verb
adverb
Synonym Usage
See humor.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wotsimple
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wostsimple
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have wistperfect
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has wistperfect
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am wittingprogressive
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are wittingprogressive
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is wittingprogressive
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have been wittingperfect progressive
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has been wittingperfect progressive
Past
-
wistsimple
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had wistperfect
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was wittingprogressive
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were wittingprogressive
-
had been wittingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing wit
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Nothing But the Truth
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Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 1
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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:
If you haven’t been following the controversy, Wilson felt that Nolan had flattened the saga by mostly erasing the Greek gods and Odysseus’ wit, lust and thorny contradictions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
His tireless travel schedule and quick wit testify to his stamina -- and he also credits his third wife Rosangela da Silva, 59, with keeping him young.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Whether they have the creative wit to go with the physicality is another question.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Mr. Papaconstantinou writes passionately and with sardonic wit, bringing the reader into the rooms where the country’s fate was decided.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
He could see Faramir’s face, which was now unmasked: it was stern and commanding, and a keen wit lay behind his searching glance.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
One of the most famous episodes in Homer’s poem finds Odysseus and his men facing the Cyclops Polyphemus in his cave, where their struggle becomes a battle of wits: lies, taunts, a drunken ruse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Nanos warned residents in Guthrie's affluent Catalina Foothills neighbourhood to "keep your wits about you".
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
I am reasonably educated, and at 64, I still have most of my wits.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026
They talk about all of the things that have been left unsaid, buried by their never-ending battle of wits.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
Maybe she’s going to drop me somewhere, and it’ll be up to me to get back to the Ranch on my own: no supplies, no food, only my wits and my inner strength.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
After Thatcher’s Conservative successor John Major unexpectedly triumphed in the 1992 election, the tabloid boasted: “It’s the Sun wot won it.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
Let’s talk a little bit about wot the violence interrupters are.
From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2021
“Wot you ’ave to know about chimney flues,” he was declaring, “is that flues ’as several twists in ’em, cuz they’s attached to uvver flues wot shares one openin’.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2018
That doro wot, a resonant chicken stew flavored with berbere, cloves and goosefoot herb, is among the great chicken dishes of the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2018
“He’s no slouch at dog-breakin’, that’s wot I say,” one of the men on the wall cried enthusiastically.
From "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London
The Utes surrender an average of 76 points per game, which is the wost in the conference.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2011
But this week the wost was yet to come.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thou wost eek what thy lady graunted thee, And day is set, the chartres up to make.
From Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer
Ha, thou mi wofull ladi diere, Which duellest with thi fader hiere 3570 And slepest in thi bedd at ese, Thou wost nothing of my desese.
From Confessio Amantis, or, Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins by G. C. (George Campbell) Macaulay
Wast, wost, pa.t. 2d pers. sing. of the verb be.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
We Are Young, too, is wistful for an era that was already full of wist.
From The Guardian ● May 29, 2013
To adapt Ko-Ko's celebrated song, he would say:— A boy may wear his hair in curls, or bear a pudding face, Some mothers, as you wist, that folly can't resist!
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, September 2nd, 1893 by Various
My lady Prioressë, by your leave, So that I wist I shouldë you not grieve, I wouldë deemen that ye tellen should A talë next, if so were that ye would.
From Chaucer and His England by G. G. Coulton
Unbroken was his heart, I wist, For he was thinking of a day— A day back in youth's rosy mist— And of a form and of a face.
From The Cornflower, and Other Poems by Jean Blewett
But as we read, "He wist not what to say, for they were sore afraid."
From "Granny's Chapters" (on scriptural subjects) by Lady Mary Ross
Facilitators—some witting, some not—also open bank accounts, cash checks and sit for some interviews.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
An agent is a paid and witting spy; he formally, sometimes covertly, works for a foreign government.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
“I can’t but think of partial replacements as immoral because they involve a witting decision by government agencies to leave residents at continued risk of exposure,” said Lambrinidou.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2023
An intelligence organization — whether it is Russian, Iranian or American — looks at potential agent candidates, who can be witting or unwitting, with three key factors in mind: access, vulnerabilities and motivation.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2020
In the meantime, Sanders, little witting that Sam'l had trumped his trick, was sauntering along the kirk-wynd with his hat on the side of his head.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 4 by Hamilton Wright Mabie
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.
