/ English Dictionary

WITTY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: wittier    , wittiest   

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Combining clever conception and facetious expression

Example:

his sermons were unpredictably witty and satirical as well as eloquent

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

humorous; humourous (full of or characterized by humor)

Derivation:

wit (a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter)

wit (a witty amusing person who makes jokes)

wittiness (a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"To hear is to obey, but March is fairer far than May," said little Parker, making a frantic effort to be both witty and tender, and getting promptly quenched by Laurie, who said...

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

She was full of jokes and laughter, and before dinner was over had said many witty things on the subject of lovers and husbands; hoped they had not left their hearts behind them in Sussex, and pretended to see them blush whether they did or not.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Who, as he saw Sheridan and Fox eagerly arguing as to whether Caleb Baldwin, the Westminster costermonger, could hold his own with Isaac Bittoon, the Jew, would have guessed that the one was the deepest political philosopher in Europe, and that the other would be remembered as the author of the wittiest comedy and of the finest speech of his generation?

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cole does not want to be wiser or wittier than his neighbours.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The stone was just broad enough to accommodate, comfortably, another girl and me, at that time my chosen comrade—one Mary Ann Wilson; a shrewd, observant personage, whose society I took pleasure in, partly because she was witty and original, and partly because she had a manner which set me at my ease.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She was flirting her fan and laughing at the feeble jokes of a young gentleman who tried to be witty, when she suddenly stopped laughing and looked confused, for just opposite, she saw Laurie.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Oh! for myself, I protest I must be excused,” said Mrs. Elton; “I really cannot attempt—I am not at all fond of the sort of thing. I had an acrostic once sent to me upon my own name, which I was not at all pleased with. I knew who it came from. An abominable puppy! You know who I mean (nodding to her husband). These kind of things are very well at Christmas, when one is sitting round the fire; but quite out of place, in my opinion, when one is exploring about the country in summer. Miss Woodhouse must excuse me. I am not one of those who have witty things at every body's service. I do not pretend to be a wit. I have a great deal of vivacity in my own way, but I really must be allowed to judge when to speak and when to hold my tongue. Pass us, if you please, Mr. Churchill. Pass Mr. E., Knightley, Jane, and myself. We have nothing clever to say—not one of us.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

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