witty

See also: Witty

English

Etymology

From Middle English witty, witti, from Old English wittiġ, witiġ, ġewittiġ (“clever, wise”), from Proto-West Germanic *witīg, *witag, from Proto-Germanic *witagaz, *wītagaz (“knowing, wise, clever”), equivalent to wit +‎ -y. Cognate with Middle Low German wittich, gewittich (“knowing, clever, wise, understanding”), German witzig (“funny, witty”), Norwegian Bokmål vettig, Norwegian Nynorsk vittig (“witty”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪti/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪti/, [ˈwɪɾi]
• Rhymes: -ɪti

Adjective

witty (comparative wittier, superlative wittiest)

1. Clever; amusingly ingenious.

   His speech was both witty and informative.

2. Full of wit.

   His frequent quips mark him as particularly witty.

3. Quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits.

   She may have grown older, but she has grown no less witty.

4. (obsolete) Wise, having good judgement.
5. (archaic) Possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity; intelligent, skilful, ingenious.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 7, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     It hath beene a witty invention […] to establish and ordaine certaine vaine and worthles markes, therewith to honor and recompence vertue […].

Synonyms

• facetious
• humorous
• jocose
• jocular
• quick
• lively
• See also Thesaurus:witty

Translations

possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity

Armenian: սրամիտ (hy) (sramit) Bulgarian: умен (bg) (umen), разумен (bg) (razumen) Dutch: wijs (nl) Esperanto: sprita Finnish: terävä (fi) German: witzig (de), geistreich (de) Italian: arguto (it), faceto (it) Portuguese: sábio (pt) m Russian: у́мный (ru) (úmnyj), смышлёный (ru) (smyšljónyj), сообрази́тельный (ru) (soobrazítelʹnyj), разу́мный (ru) (razúmnyj) Spanish: chispeante, donairoso (es), donoso (es)

clever; amusingly ingenious

Armenian: սրամիտ (hy) (sramit) Azerbaijani: hazırcavab Bulgarian: остроумен (bg) (ostroumen), духовяит (duhovjait) Czech: vtipný (cs) m Dutch: geestig (nl) Finnish: naseva (fi), sukkelasanainen French: fin (fr) Galician: enxeñoso m German: geistreich (de), witzig (de), originell (de) Greek: Ancient: ἀστεῖος (asteîos), εὐτράπελος (eutrápelos) Hungarian: szellemes (hu) Indonesian: jenaka (id) Irish: tráthúil Italian: ingegnoso (it), fine (it), convincente (it), malizioso (it), faceto (it) m, spiritoso (it) m Latin: facētus, salsus Maori: tātākī Polish: dowcipny (pl) m Portuguese: engenhoso (pt), espirituoso (pt) m Russian: остроу́мный (ru) (ostroúmnyj) Scottish Gaelic: sgaiteach Spanish: ingenioso (es), donairoso (es), donoso (es), conceptuoso (es) Swedish: fyndig (sv), kvick (sv)

full of wit

Armenian: սրամիտ (hy) (sramit) Bulgarian: остроумен (bg) (ostroumen) Danish: åndrig Dutch: geestig (nl) Finnish: välkky (fi) French: spirituel (fr) German: geistreich (de) Greek: Ancient: ἀστεῖος (asteîos), εὐτράπελος (eutrápelos) Hungarian: szellemes (hu) Irish: tráthúil Italian: spiritoso (it) Latin: argūtus Maori: tātākī Norwegian: vittig, åndrik Russian: остроу́мный (ru) (ostroúmnyj) Scottish Gaelic: sgaiteach Spanish: mordaz (es), donairoso (es), donoso (es), conceptuoso (es) Welsh: ffraeth (cy)

quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits

Bulgarian: съобразителен (bg) (sǎobrazitelen) Czech: chytrý (cs) m Finnish: välkky (fi) German: geistreich (de), schlagfertig (de) Italian: arguzia (it) f, spiritoso (it) m Portuguese: arguto (pt) Russian: смышлёный (ru) (smyšljónyj), сообрази́тельный (ru) (soobrazítelʹnyj) Spanish: donairoso (es), donoso (es)

See also

• kitty witty