Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Possessing or demonstrating wit in speech or writing; very clever and humorous.
- adj. Characterized by or having the nature of wit; funny or jocular: a witty saying.
- adj. Quick to discern and express amusing insights or relationships.
- adj. Entertainingly and strikingly clever or original in concept, design, or performance: a witty sculpture; witty choreography.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Possessed of wisdom or learning; wise; discreet; knowing; artful.
- Exhibiting intelligence or ingenuity; clever; skilfully devised.
- Possessed of wit; smartly or cleverly facetious; ready with strikingly novel, clever, shrewd, and amusing sayings, or with sharp repartee; brilliant, sparkling, and original in expressing amusing notions or ideas; hence, sometimes, sarcastic; satirical: of persons.
- Characterized by or pregnant with wit: as, a witty remark or repartee.
Wiktionary
- adj. obsolete Wise, having good judgement.
- adj. archaic Possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity; intelligent, skilful, ingenious.
- adj. Clever; amusingly ingenious.
- adj. Full of wit.
- adj. quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. obsolete Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning.
- adj. Especially, possessing wit or humor; good at repartee; droll; facetious; sometimes, sarcastic.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. combining clever conception and facetious expression
Etymologies
- Old English wittiġ ("clever, wise"), corresponding to wit + -y. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“And a certain witty, dapper silver fox is looking like he may be the ad man plummeting to his doom in the opening credits as Don Draper looks on with a certain relaxed detachment, arm draped, as it were, over the back of his sofa.”
“And a certain witty, dapper silver fox is looking like he may be the ad man plummeting to his doom in the opening credits as Don Draper watches on with a certain relaxed detachment, arm draped, as it were, over the back of his sofa.”
“I think being witty is sort of a dime a dozen, and there has to be something more.”
“You're so frickin witty, and your posts are always awesome -- chock full of so many mouth-watering pics.”
“If he is a spy, they will engage in witty, innuendo-filled conversation, retire to his cabana, and make love.”
“It's a man's life done in short witty insightful pieces.”
“We always mention thrift as an attribute of the Teutonic nations; the Irishman we characterize as witty and pugnacious; the Frenchman as polite; the American as progressive.”
“Smith still misses her friend, whom she described as witty, sometimes naive.”
“Players can type in short, witty comments about the drama unfolding on screen.”
“a prolific store of words and expressions which he exploits to the full in witty dialogue, in satire and grotesquery, in quiet poetry and essays of sparkling vitality.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘witty’.
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Naresh_Special
portent, organically, malicious, sham, olfactory, vertebrates, protuberance, sensilla, flagitious, pleonastic, exiguous, wayward and 102 more...
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Public List: Two by Fives
This is an experiment in public lists--something I've been thinking about for some time. The goal is to create a collection of short, powerful, evocative words.
This is an open list. A...icy, howl, hymn, thorn, fire, vile, mist, blunt, scum, dark, shot, gleam and 221 more...
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Y
What a -Y does to an otherwise common, dull word
zany, waxy, wavy, arty, chewy, bony, boxy, cozy, nosy, foxy, wiry, junky and 321 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 410 more...
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sentient
think words
wise, witty, smart, brilliant, sentient, extrapolate, imagination, intelligence, polymath, contemplate, calculate, create and 2 more...
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This intriguing novel .... is a taut,...
Crimes committed by book reviewers. Terms here are culled shamelessly from a recent New York Times blog post, and the comments that it generated.
Seven Deadly Sins
See a...poignant, compelling, taut, lyrical, spare, eschew, limn, craft, nuanced, contrived, majestic, subtle and 52 more...
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Sonata Voacab
concealed, corridors, crumbling, director, doomed, employees, mocked, tragic, admirable, agitated, distinguished, intention and 4 more...
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Words English Learners Don't Use
though, inevitable, thorough, awkward, presumption, inevitably, overwhelming, startle, odd, weird, awful, witty
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generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
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cuzican's Words
lexicon, tirade, innocuous, apathy, narcissist, subtle, agnostic, plethora, malleable, catalyst, pithy, irate and 116 more...
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to acquire
moustache, thoughtcrime, lift, overall, razor, strength, oily, gin, oily gin, brotherhood, dull, toward and 108 more...
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africasunsets's list
serendipity, fragrance, glamour, smitten, nourish, lavish, luxury, wicked, gem, daring, soothe, fantasy and 192 more...
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Descriptive
The present, the future. Goals, wishes, hopes.
capricious, sericeous, sleek, flawless, charming, skilled, long-haired, versatile, beautiful, witty, fair, thin and 145 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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Coruscatingly what?
List of adjectival terms, from aggressive to zippered, paired in printed materials with the adverb coruscatingly, identified by a simple query to Google Search (Books).
...propaedeutic...aggressive, angry, articulate, astringent, aware, beautiful, big, blinding, bright, brilliant, brutal, cerebral and 93 more...
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supplementary
for enhancement of any English test
consanguineous, worldly, naiveté, enshroud, pernicious, prerogative, traitor, fledgling, vengeance, provision, furnish, quarrel and 94 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for witty.
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