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. (obsolete) Wise, having good judgement.
2. (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 […].

3. Clever; amusingly ingenious.

   His speech was both witty and informative.

4. Full of wit.

   His frequent quips mark him as particularly witty.

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

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

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)
• 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

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)
• 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)
• 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)

See also

• kitty witty