afterwit

Noun

afterwit (countable and uncountable, plural afterwits)

1. Wisdom which comes after the event.
   • After wits are dearely bought, / Let thy fore-wit guide thy thought.1595, Robert Southwell, “Losse in Delayes”, in Saint Peters Complaynt With Other Poems, London: Gabriel Cawood, page 50
   • There’s No Recalling of what’s Gone and Past; so that After-Wit comes too Late when the Mischief is Done.1692, Roger L’Estrange (translator), Fables of Æsop, London: R. Sare et al., Fable 162, “A Nightingale and a Bat,”
2. The lack of forethought.

   Antonyms:

   forewit

3. A good comeback, retort one thinks of only after the end of discussion or after leaving a social gathering.

   Synonyms:

   l'esprit de l'escalier, staircase wit, (neologism) retrotort