- (sometimes singular) the ability to reason and act, esp quickly (esp in the phrase have one's wits about one)
- (sometimes singular) right mind, sanity (esp in the phrase out of one's wits)
- at one's wits' end ⇒ at a loss to know how to proceed
- five wits ⇒ obsolete the five senses or mental faculties
- live by one's wits ⇒ to gain a livelihood by craftiness and cunning rather than by hard work
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wits /wɪts/ pl n
wit1 /wɪt/USA pronunciation
n.
wit2 /wɪt/USA pronunciation v., wist /wɪst/USA pronunciation wit•ting. Idioms
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [uncountable] keen intelligence;
astuteness. - quickness;
cleverness:[uncountable]He lacked the wit to respond in time. - [countable] a person having or noted for being amusingly clever.
- Usually, wits. [plural]
- the ability to think quickly and clearly;
resourcefulness;
ingenuity:In a crisis he's able to keep his wits about him. - mental faculties;
senses:scared out of her wits.
- the ability to think quickly and clearly;
- Idioms at one's wit's or wits' end, drained or empty of all ideas or mental resources.
wit2 /wɪt/USA pronunciation v., wist /wɪst/USA pronunciation wit•ting. Idioms
- Idioms to wit, [no object] that is to say;
namely:spoke several languages, to wit, English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese.
wit1
(wit),USA pronunciation n.
wit2 (wit),USA pronunciation v.t., v.i., [pres. sing. 1st pers.] wot, 2nd wost, 3rd wot, pres. pl. wit or wite;
past and past part. wist;
pres. part. wit•ting.
- the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure.
- speech or writing showing such perception and expression.
- a person having or noted for such perception and expression.
- understanding, intelligence, or sagacity;
astuteness. - Usually, wits.
- powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like;
mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness:using one's wits to get ahead. - mental faculties;
senses:to lose one's wits.
- powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like;
- at one's wit's end. See end 1 (def. 23).
- keep or have one's wits about one, to remain alert and observant;
be prepared for or equal to anything:to keep your wits about you in a crisis. - live by one's wits, to provide for oneself by employing ingenuity or cunning;
live precariously:We traveled around the world, living by our wits.
- bef. 900; Middle English, Old English: mind, thought; cognate with German Witz, Old Norse vit; akin to wit2
- 1. drollery, facetiousness, waggishness, repartee. See humor. 4. wisdom, sense, mind.
wit2 (wit),USA pronunciation v.t., v.i., [pres. sing. 1st pers.] wot, 2nd wost, 3rd wot, pres. pl. wit or wite;
past and past part. wist;
pres. part. wit•ting.
- [Archaic.]to know.
- to wit, that is to say;
namely:It was the time of the vernal equinox, to wit, the beginning of spring.
- bef. 900; Middle English witen, Old English witan; cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Old Norse vita, Gothic witan to know; akin to Latin vidēre, Greek ideîn to see, Sanskrit vidati (he) knows. See wot
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Wits /wɪts/ n
- South African informal University of the Witwatersrand
'wits' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):