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witless

[wit-lis]
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adjective
  1. lacking wit or intelligence; stupid; foolish.
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Origin of witless

before 1000; Middle English; Old English witlēas. See wit1, -less
Related formswit·less·ly, adverbwit·less·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for witlessness

madness, craziness, absurdity, folly, frenzy, alienation, dementia, lunacy, hysteria, irresponsibility, irrationality, silliness, nonsense, idiocy, indiscretion, foolishness, recklessness, stupidity, bunk, insanity

Examples from the Web for witlessness

Historical Examples of witlessness

  • He's too good a fellow to turn down in his little day of witlessness.

    The Helpers

    Francis Lynde

  • Perhaps, too, she had another reason for regretting her companion's witlessness.

    Archibald Malmaison

    Julian Hawthorne

  • But so far neither avarice nor witlessness has betrayed anything.

  • His intelligence might be equalled, but not his witlessness!

    The Wisdom of Confucius

    Epiphanius Wilson

  • It describes the inward shrinking and shrivelling of a depraved nature, the witlessness which results from wickedness.

British Dictionary definitions for witlessness

witless

adjective
  1. lacking wit, intelligence, or sense; stupid
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Derived Formswitlessly, adverbwitlessness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for witlessness

witless

adj.

Old English witleas; see wit (n.) + -less. Phrase scared witless attested from 1975. Related: Witlessly; witlessness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper