Definition of witty adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

witty

adjective

/ˈwɪti/

(comparative wittier, superlative wittiest)

Word Family

wit noun
witty adjective
witticism noun
outwit verb

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clever and humorous
- He was much in demand as a witty public speaker.
- Somebody made a witty remark about needing a forklift truck.
Synonyms funny
funnyamusing ▪ entertaining ▪ witty ▪ humorous ▪ comic ▪ hilariousThese words all describe somebody/something that makes you laugh or smile.
funny that makes you laugh:
a funny story
He was a very funny guy.
amusing funny and giving pleasure:
It’s a very amusing game to play.
entertaining that you enjoy watching, listening to, doing or experiencing:
It was a very entertaining evening.
witty clever and amusing; able to say or write clever and amusing things:
a witty remark
a witty public speaker
humorous funny and entertaining; showing a sense of humour:
a humorous look at the world of fashion
comic that makes you laugh:
Many of the scenes in the book are richly comic.
hilarious extremely funny
funny, amusing, humorous or comic?Amusing is the most general of these words because it includes the idea of being fun as well as making people laugh and can be used to describe events, activities and occasions: an amusing party/game/evening • a funny/humorous/comic party/game/evening. Humorous is more about showing that you see the humour in a situation, than actually making people laugh out loud. Comic is used especially to talk about writing and drama or things that are funny in a deliberate and theatrical way. It is not used to describe people (except for comic writers/actors). Funny can describe people, jokes and stories, things that happen, or anything that makes people laugh.Patterns
- a(n) funny/amusing/entertaining/witty/humorous/comic story
- a(n) funny/amusing/entertaining/witty/humorous speech
- a(n) funny/entertaining/witty/humorous/comic writer
- a(n) funny/amusing/hilarious joke
- to find something funny/amusing/entertaining/witty/humorous/hilarious
Extra Examples
- a brilliantly witty remark
- It's a wonderfully entertaining play with an endlessly witty script.
Topics Personal qualitiesc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
Witty is used with these nouns:
banter
comment
lyrics
…
See full entry
Word OriginOld English wit(t)ig ‘having wisdom’ (see wit, -y).

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Nearby words

alloy

noun

From the Topic

Physics and chemistry

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