wit

wit ¹  (wt)

n.

1. The natural ability to perceive and understand; intelligence.

2.

a. Keenness and quickness of perception or discernment; ingenuity. Often used in the plural: living by one's wits.

b. wits Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits.

3.

a. The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.

b. One noted for this ability, especially one skilled in repartee.

c. A person of exceptional intelligence.

Idioms:

at (one's) wits' end

At the limit of one's mental resources; utterly at a loss.

have/keep (one's) wits about (one)

To remain alert or calm, especially in a crisis.

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[Middle English, from Old English; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: wit¹, humor, repartee, sarcasm, irony
These nouns denote forms of expression that elicit amusement or laughter. Wit implies intellectual keenness and the ability to perceive and express in a diverting way analogies between dissimilar things: "Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words" Dorothy Parker.
Humor suggests the faculty of recognizing what is amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd: "Man's sense of humor seems to be in inverse proportion to the gravity of his profession" Mary Roberts Rinehart.
Repartee implies a facility for answering swiftly and cleverly: "framing comments ... that would be sure to sting and yet leave no opening for repartee" H.G. Wells.
Sarcasm is a form of caustic wit intended to wound or ridicule another: "[His] tone seemed as if meant to be kind and soothing, but yet had a bitterness of sarcasm in it" Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Irony is a form of expression in which an intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning of the words used: "A drayman in a passion [a rage] calls out, 'You are a pretty fellow,' without suspecting that he is uttering irony" Thomas Macaulay. See Also Synonyms at mind.

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wit ¹

Noun

1. the ability to use words or ideas in a clever, amusing, and imaginative way

2. a person possessing this ability

3. practical intelligence: do credit me with some wit

See also wits [Old English witt]

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wit ²

Verb

to wit (used to introduce a statement or explanation) that is to say; namely [Old English witan]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	wit - a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter humor, witticism, wittiness, humour subject matter, content, message, substance - what a communication that is about something is about jeu d'esprit - a witty comment or writing bon mot, mot - a clever remark esprit de l'escalier - a witty remark that occurs to you too late pungency, bite - wit having a sharp and caustic quality; "he commented with typical pungency"; "the bite of satire" caustic remark, irony, sarcasm, satire - witty language used to convey insults or scorn; "he used sarcasm to upset his opponent"; "irony is wasted on the stupid"; "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"--Jonathan Swift repartee - adroitness and cleverness in reply gag, jape, jest, joke, laugh - a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter; "he told a very funny joke"; "he knows a million gags"; "thanks for the laugh"; "he laughed unpleasantly at his own jest"; "even a schoolboy's jape is supposed to have some ascertainable point" caricature, impersonation, imitation - a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect cartoon, sketch - a humorous or satirical drawing published in a newspaper or magazine fun, sport, play - verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously); "he became a figure of fun"; "he said it in sport" ribaldry - ribald humor topper - an exceedingly good witticism that surpasses all that have gone before libation - (facetious) a serving of an alcoholic beverage roaster - a harsh or humorous critic (sometimes intended as a facetious compliment); "the honoree gave his roasters as good as he got"
	2.	wit - mental ability; "he's got plenty of brains but no common sense" brainpower, learning ability, mental capacity, mentality, brain intelligence - the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience
	3.	wit - a witty amusing person who makes jokes wag, card colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech humorist, humourist - someone who acts speaks or writes in an amusing way

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wit

noun 1. humour, fun, quips, banter, puns, pleasantry, repartee, wordplay, levity, witticisms, badinage, jocularity, facetiousness, drollery, raillery, waggishness, wittiness << OPPOSITE seriousness

noun 2. humorist, card (informal) comedian, wag, joker, dag N.Z. (informal) punster, epigrammatist

noun 3. cleverness, mind, reason, understanding, sense, brains, smarts (slang), chiefly U.S. judgment, perception, wisdom, insight, common sense, intellect, comprehension, ingenuity, acumen, nous Brit. (slang) discernment, practical intelligence << OPPOSITE stupidity

Translations

wit [wɪt] n (= wittiness) → ingenio, gracia (= intelligence) (also: wits) → inteligencia;

(person) → chistoso/a;

to have or keep one's wits about one → no perder la cabeza

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wit [wɪt] n (also: wits) (= intelligence); intelligence f, esprit m (= presence of mind); présence f d'esprit (= wittiness); esprit (= person); homme/femme d'esprit;

to be at one's wits' end (fig) → ne plus savoir que faire;

to have one's wits about one → avoir toute sa présence d'esprit, ne pas perdre la tête;

to wit adv → à savoir

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wit [wɪt] n (= wittiness) → geistreiche Art f;

(person) → geistreicher Mensch m (= presence of mind); Verstand m;

wits npl (intelligence) → Verstand m;

to be at one's wits' end → mit seinem Latein am Ende sein;

to have one's wits about one → einen klaren Kopf haben;

to wit (namely) → und zwar

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wit [wɪt] n (gen pl) → intelligenza; presenza di spirito (= wittiness); spirito, arguzia;

(person) → bello spirito;

to be at one's wits' end (fig) → non sapere più cosa fare;

to have or keep one's wits about one → avere presenza di spirito;

to wit adv → cioè