Word.ws English Dictionary

witticism

/ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/

witticism noun: a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.

Noun

witticism (plural witticisms)

  1. a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.
    • "Take any shape but that!" is what I always feel tempted to exclaim when dulness attempts a joke; striving to pervert some poor innocent and ill-used word from its lawful meaning till it ceases to have any at all—worrying some unfortunate idea till, like the hunted hare, it is worried to...1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 151
    • Shock of the witticism is a powerful one; while mere fun will have no power over them if it jar on their moral taste.1883, George Eliot, chapter 4, in The Essays of George Eliot

witticism meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

witticism in Tamil

எழில், சுளுகு

witticism in Urdu

witticism; witty remark; glib talk
فقرہ fiqra

witticism in Malayalam

നർമപ്രയോഗം, നർമോക്തി, നർമഭാഷണം

witticism in Kannada

ಜಾಣ್ಣುಡಿ, ಚಲ್ಲನುಡಿ, ಚದುರುನುಡಿ, ಚದುರುವಾತು, ಹಾಸ್ಯೋಕ್ತಿ, ಚಮತ್ಕಾರೋಕ್ತಿ
More languagesFewer languages
witticism in Thai
คำคม kam-kom

Forms of witticism

pluralwitticisms

Origin of witticism

From witty + -icism; coined in the 1670s by John Dryden, by analogy to criticism.

Words formed from witticism

Questions about witticism

What does witticism mean?
Witticism means a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.
What is witticism in Tamil?
Witticism in Tamil is எழில், சுளுகு. See Witticism meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is witticism?
Witticism is a noun.
How do you pronounce witticism?
Witticism is pronounced /ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/ (UK).
What is the plural of witticism?
The plural of witticism is witticisms.

Words near witticism in the dictionary

  1. wittichenite
  2. witticise
  3. witticised
  4. witticises
  5. witticising
  6. witticism
  7. witticisms
  8. witticist
  9. witticists
  10. witticize
  11. wittier

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: witticism (page history and authors); witticism (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); فقرہ (Urdu) (page history and authors); witticism (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); witticism (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-witticism.wav.

Cite this entry: “witticism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/witticism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.