| / English Dictionary |
WIT
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Mental ability
Example:
he's got plenty of brains but no common sense
Synonyms:
brain; brainpower; learning ability; mental capacity; mentality; wit
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("wit" is a kind of...):
intelligence (the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
Synonyms:
humor; humour; wit; witticism; wittiness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("wit" is a kind of...):
content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)
Domain member category:
couth ((used facetiously) refinement)
couth ((used facetiously) refined and well-mannered)
Domain member usage:
libation ((facetious) a serving of an alcoholic beverage)
roaster (a harsh or humorous critic (sometimes intended as a facetious compliment))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wit"):
jeu d'esprit (a witty comment or writing)
bon mot; mot (a clever remark)
esprit de l'escalier (a witty remark that occurs to you too late)
bite; pungency (wit having a sharp and caustic quality)
caustic remark; irony; sarcasm; satire (witty language used to convey insults or scorn)
repartee (adroitness and cleverness in reply)
gag; jape; jest; joke; laugh (a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter)
caricature; imitation; impersonation (a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect)
cartoon; sketch (a humorous or satirical drawing published in a newspaper or magazine)
fun; play; sport (verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously))
ribaldry (ribald humor)
topper (an exceedingly good witticism that surpasses all that have gone before)
Derivation:
witty (combining clever conception and facetious expression)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A witty amusing person who makes jokes
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("wit" is a kind of...):
humorist; humourist (someone who acts speaks or writes in an amusing way)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Derivation:
witty (combining clever conception and facetious expression)
Context examples:
I did every wild extravagance that could be done, and was a long way beyond the end of my wits when Miss Mills came into the room.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Van Helsing is simply frantic about it, and I am at my wits' end.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Oh, my Irish wits, could they not help me now, when I needed help so sorely?
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I recalled his singular conduct of yesterday, and really I began to fear his wits were touched.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
This was quite a new idea to Mrs. Dashwood; she had never been used to find wit in the inattention of any one, and could not help looking with surprise at them both.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Her wit was playing keenly, and she was enjoying the tilt as much as Wolf Larsen, and he was enjoying it hugely.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
There he lay in the hall, and we were at our wits’ end what to do.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The fourth member of the party, Michael Dennin, contributed his Irish wit to the gayety of the cabin.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
It appears they were at their wits' end what to do, the stores being so low that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Lady Russell had little taste for wit, and of anything approaching to imprudence a horror.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
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