Word.ws English Dictionary

having one's wits about one

having one's wits about one is the present participle and gerund of have one's wits about one.

Meaning of have one's wits about one

Verb

have one's wits about one (third-person singular simple present has one's wits about one, present participle having one's wits about one, simple past and past participle had one's wits about one)

  1. (idiomatic) To remain calm, composed, focused, or aware.
    • He was confused, half elated, half disappointed, and had not his wits about him.1869, Anthony Trollope, chapter 3, in Phineas Finn
    Synonyms:
    keep one's cool

Questions about having one's wits about one

What is having one's wits about one the present participle and gerund of?
Having one's wits about one is the present participle and gerund of have one's wits about one.

Words near having one's wits about one in the dictionary

  1. having one's way
  2. having one's way with
  3. having one's Weetabix
  4. having one's whole life ahead of one
  5. having one's wig snatched
  6. having one's wits about one
  7. having one's work cut out
  8. having one's work cut out for one
  9. having other fish to fry
  10. having other ideas
  11. having out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: having one's wits about one (page history and authors); have one's wits about one (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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