Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use wit in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Wit means sanity. Example: “He's gone completely out of his wits.”

Examples of wit by meaning

nounSanity.

  • He's gone completely out of his wits.

nounThe senses.

  • Keep your wits about you.

nounIntellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.

  • Where she has gone to is beyond the wit of man to say.

nounThe ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially under short time constraints.

  • My father had a quick wit and a steady hand.

nounIntelligence; common sense.

  • The opportunity was right in front of you, and you didn't even have the wit to take it!

nounHumour, especially when clever or quick.

  • The best man's speech was hilarious, full of wit and charm.
  • Her idea of wit is nothing more than an incisive observation humorously phrased and delivered with impeccable timing".1996 February 4, Jennifer Crittenden, “Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 14, production...

nounA person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.

  • Your friend is quite a wit, isn't he?
  • A group of young wits from the resort town of Pärnu sells cans of seawater as gag gifts; on the labels they list the high pollution levels and give medical instructions.1989 May, Priit J. Vesilind, “The Baltic: Arena of Power”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 632

verbTo know, be aware of (constructed with of when used intransitively).

  • You committed terrible actions — to wit, murder and theft — and should be punished accordingly.
  • They are meddling in matters that men should not wit of.

More sentences with wit

  • Are you ready to pit your wits against one of the world's greatest puzzles?From the entry pit
  • Crassus had wealth and wit, but Pompey had drive and Caesar as much again.From the entry drive
  • My father is old but he still has a quick wit.From the entry quick
  • Among the arrests is a man charged with possession of stolen goods, to wit: 50 beer crates.From the entry to wit
  • Kendall conceded defeat once she realized she could not win in a battle of wits.From the entry concede
  • He scared me out of my wits, sneaking up behind me in the dark like that.From the entry scare someone out of their wits
  • It sounds like Wilder is at his raconteurial best, telling stories and showing off his wit.From the entry raconteurial
  • We must pit our wits against our enemy and find a way to defeat him.From the entry pit one's wits
  • Steven Wright has a deadpan delivery, Norm Macdonald has a dry sense of humor, and Oscar Wilde had a dry wit.From the entry dry
  • The pun is the lowest form of wit.From the entry pun
  • He was bedazzled by her charm and wit.From the entry bedazzle
  • You need to limber up your wits before the exam.From the entry limber up
  • He has his wits about him.From the entry about
  • Hey dummy, what's good wit chu?From the entry dummy
  • He makin bank wit dat racket.From the entry make bank
  • I was clowning with you, but I see where you at wit’ it.2023, Aries Skye, Love on the Ninth Floor, Dallas, Tex.: Black Odyssey Media, →ISBN. From the entry big mad
  • Lord John Russell defined the proverb as ‘the wisdom of many and the wit of one’.2021 [1996], Colin S.K. Walker, Scottish Proverbs, Edinburgh, Scotland: Birlinn, →ISBN. From the entry proverb
  • And prolly would be in the Gifted and Talented Program wit' you and Echo.2020, Echo Brown, Black Girl Unlimited, Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN. From the entry prolly
  • Sometimes the hauteur is nothing more dire than a kind of black-mother wit.2014 May 28, John McWhorter, “Saint Maya”, in The New Republic, →ISSN. From the entry hauteur
  • The soul of wit for them is disparaging relevance: the persistent searching out of weakness.2014, Mitchell Duneier, Philip Kasinitz, Alexandra Murphy, The Urban Ethnography Reader, →ISBN, page 340. From the entry pisstake
  • Dawkins’ book is, oddly, much more embittered and deeply emotional, although leavened by his effervescent wit.2011, Philip W. Anderson, More and Different: Notes from a Thoughtful Curmudgeon, →ISBN, page 177. From the entry embittered
  • For others of us, though, Obama’s wit is closely linked to the outsiderness that got him elected.2009 August 9, Matt Bai, “Funny How?”, in New York Times. From the entry outsiderness
  • Henry seen dat boy talkin at you, de one wit a head as swivelly as a owl's.2008, Tricia Dower, Silent girl: stories. From the entry swivelly
  • Allen plays Alvy Singer, a Jewish comedian whose jokes are more Borscht Belt than sly urban wit.2007, Steven H. Scheuer, Alida Brill-Scheuer, Pocket Guide to Collecting Movies on DVD. From the entry borscht belt
  • Remembered for his generosity, kindness, quick sharp wit, teeth-less smile, wisdom and godly advise.2006 May 22, “Burnell Arlos Raphael “Pops” / Chicago, IL”, in The Times, Munster, Ind., page C2, column 4. From the entry teeth-less
  • The Scouses, not known for their wit, responded with the 'Munich runway' chant.2001 September 9, Will Buckley, “Beckham tops it off”, in The Observer. From the entry scouse
  • The wisdom of the soil trounces city wit in stories meant for townspeople.2001, John [Graham Wilmot] Henderson, Telling Tales on Caesar: Roman Stories from Phaedrus, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 126. From the entry adoxographical
  • Also you might get lucky and get a shot of the wit and enlightened wisdon of HeartHappy!1998 June 26, James C. Allison, “Let's Start a Discussion, O.K.?”, in alt.solipsism (Usenet). From the entry muffinery
  • Grachki (grach’-key) as in, “Yo, Theresa, waja do wit da grachki?1997 January 30, Mike Royko, “Words Just Escape Ya When Dealing with Chicagonics”, in Chicago Tribune. From the entry grachki

Meaning of wit

  1. noun Sanity.
  2. noun The senses.
  3. noun Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.

Full definition of wit

Questions about wit in a sentence

How do you use wit in a sentence?
Wit is used as a noun and verb. For example: “He's gone completely out of his wits.”
What is a short sentence with wit?
“Keep your wits about you.”
What does wit mean?
Wit means sanity.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wit (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use wit in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/wit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.