noun
Idioms 1.
the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure. Synonyms: drollery, facetiousness, waggishness, repartee.
2.
speech or writing showing such perception and expression. Synonyms: banter, joking, witticism, quip, raillery, badinage, persiflage; bon mot.
3.
a person having or noted for such perception and expression. Synonyms: wag, jester, epigrammatist, satirist.
4.
understanding, intelligence, or sagacity; astuteness. Synonyms: wisdom, sense, mind.
5.
Usually, wits.
a.
powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness: using one's wits to get ahead. Synonyms: cleverness, cunning, wisdom, insight, perspicacity, sacaciousness, acumen.
b.
mental faculties; senses: to lose one's wits; frightened out of one's wits. Synonyms: mind, sanity; brains, marbles.
6.
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.
7.
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.
8.
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.
00:10
Wit
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Origin:
before 900; Middle English, Old English: mind, thought; cognate with German Witz, Old Norse vit; akin to wit2
before 900; Middle English, Old English: mind, thought; cognate with German Witz, Old Norse vit; akin to wit2
Synonym Study
Humor, wit refer to an ability to perceive and express a sense of the clever or amusing. Humor consists principally in the recognition and expression of incongruities or peculiarities present in a situation or character. It is frequently used to illustrate some fundamental absurdity in human nature or conduct, and is generally thought of as more kindly than wit: a genial and mellow type of humor; his biting wit. Wit is a purely intellectual manifestation of cleverness and quickness of apprehension in discovering analogies between things really unlike, and expressing them in brief, diverting, and often sharp observations or remarks.
Humor, wit refer to an ability to perceive and express a sense of the clever or amusing. Humor consists principally in the recognition and expression of incongruities or peculiarities present in a situation or character. It is frequently used to illustrate some fundamental absurdity in human nature or conduct, and is generally thought of as more kindly than wit: a genial and mellow type of humor; his biting wit. Wit is a purely intellectual manifestation of cleverness and quickness of apprehension in discovering analogies between things really unlike, and expressing them in brief, diverting, and often sharp observations or remarks.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), present singular 1st person wot, 2nd wost, 3rd wot, present plural wit or wite; past and past participle wist; present participle wit·ting.
Idioms 1.
Archaic. to know.
2.
to wit, that is to say; namely: It was the time of the vernal equinox, to wit, the beginning of spring.
Origin:
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, Greek ideîn to see, Sanskrit vidati (he) knows. See wot
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, Greek ideîn to see, Sanskrit vidati (he) knows. See wot
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To wit
Collins
World English Dictionary
wit1 (wɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 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 (Scot), (Northern English) 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 |
| [Old English witt; related to Old Saxon giwitt, Old High German wizzi (German Witz), Old Norse vit, Gothic witi. See | |
| wit2 (wɪt) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | archaic to be or become aware of (something) |
| —adv | |
| 2. | to wit that is to say; namely (used to introduce statements, as in legal documents) |
| [Old English witan; related to Old High German wizzan (German wissen), Old Norse vita, Latin vidēre to see] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
wit
"mental capacity," O.E. wit, more commonly gewit, from P.Gmc. *witjan (cf. O.S. wit, O.N. vit, Dan. vid, Swed. vett, O.Fris. wit, O.H.G. wizzi "knowledge, understanding, intelligence, mind," Ger. Witz "wit, witticism, joke," Goth. unwiti "ignorance"), from PIE *woid-/*weid-/*wid- "to see," metaphorically
"to know" (see vision). Related to O.E. witan "to know" (source of wit (v.)). Meaning "ability to make clever remarks in an amusing way" is first recorded 1542; that of "person of wit or learning" is from c.1470. Witticism coined 1677, by Dryden. For nuances of usage, see humor.
"A witty saying proves nothing." [Voltaire, Diner du Comte de Boulainvilliers]
wit
"know," O.E. witan "to know," from P.Gmc. *witanan "to have seen," hence "to know" (cf. O.S. witan, O.N. vita, O.Fris. wita, M.Du., Du. weten, O.H.G. wizzan, Ger. wissen, Goth. witan "to know"); see wit (n.). The phrase to wit, almost the only surviving use of the verb, is
first recorded 1577, from earlier that is to wit (1340), probably a loan-translation of Anglo-Fr. cestasavoir, used to render L. videlicet (see viz.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
| WIT witness (shortwave transmission) |
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
wit
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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
wit
communication in which the stimulus produces amusement
Learn more about wit with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Sarcasm does tear the flesh but humor and wit is a different story and often confused with the corniest of joke tellers.
There are no algorithms for wit, irony, humor or stylish writing.
His comments were infrequent, and when he did pipe up they were often lame, lacking wit and humor.
Far from failing him, his celebrated wit grew ever more bitter.
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