witty
/ˈwɪti/ adjective, proper noun
Forms wittier wittiest Wittys
- adjective Clever; amusingly ingenious. “His speech was both witty and informative.”
- adjective Full of wit. “His frequent quips mark him as particularly witty.”
- adjective Quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits. “She may have grown older, but she has grown no less witty.”
- adjective (obsolete) Wise, having good judgement.
- adjective (archaic) Possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity; intelligent, skilful, ingenious.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
facetious humorous jocose jocular quick lively amusing bright diverting droll entertaining piquant quick on the draw quick-witted sharp tongue-in-cheek
Antonyms
brainless lowbrow stupid witless corny hackneyed lame humorless uncomic unfunny earnest grave
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [Obs.] "The deep-revolving witty Buckingham." Shak.
- adjective Especially, possessing wit or humor; good at repartee; droll; facetious; sometimes, sarcastic; as, a witty remark, poem, and the like. "Honeycomb, who was so unmercifully witty upon the women." Addison.
Etymology [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “witty”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details