What's the difference between wit and witticism?

Wit


Definition:

  • (inf.) of Wit
  • (n.) To know; to learn.
  • (v.) Mind; intellect; understanding; sense.
  • (v.) A mental faculty, or power of the mind; -- used in this sense chiefly in the plural, and in certain phrases; as, to lose one's wits; at one's wits' end, and the like.
  • (v.) Felicitous association of objects not usually connected, so as to produce a pleasant surprise; also. the power of readily combining objects in such a manner.
  • (v.) A person of eminent sense or knowledge; a man of genius, fancy, or humor; one distinguished for bright or amusing sayings, for repartee, and the like.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In a poll before the debate, 48% predicted that Merkel, who will become Europe's longest serving leader if re-elected on 22 September, would emerge as the winner of the US-style debate, while 26% favoured Steinbruck, a former finance minister who is known for his quick-wit and rhetorical skills, but sometimes comes across as arrogant.
  • (2) We are already witnessing a wholly understandable uprising of protest.
  • (3) Among the guests invited to witness the flypast were six second world war RAF pilots, dubbed the “few” by the wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill.
  • (4) Maguire's colleagues rushed to her side, some administering first aid while others held her attacker, witnesses said.
  • (5) That’s when you heard the ‘boom’.” Teto Wilson also claimed to have witnessed the shooting, posting on Facebook on Sunday morning that he and some friends had been at the Elk lodge, outside which the shooting took place.
  • (6) Any party or witness is entitled to use Welsh in any magistrates court in Wales without prior notice.
  • (7) Solzhenitsyn was acknowledged as a "truth-teller" and a witness to the cruelties of Stalinism of unusual power and eloquence.
  • (8) Unfortunately, under the Faustian pact we have witnessed a double whammy: fiscal policy being used to reduce government spending when the economy is already depressed.
  • (9) John Carver witnessed signs of much-needed improvement from the visitors in a purposeful spell either side of the interval but it was not enough to prevent a fifth successive Premier League defeat.
  • (10) Two officers who witnessed the shooting of unarmed 43-year-old Samuel DuBose in Cincinnati will not face criminal charges, despite seemingly corroborating a false claim that DuBose’s vehicle dragged officer Ray Tensing before he was fatally shot.
  • (11) He could be the target of more punishing wit, as when Michael Foot, noting a tendency to be tougher abroad than at home, called him "a belligerent Bertie Wooster without even a Jeeves to restrain him."
  • (12) Thanks to the groundbreaking technology and heavy investment of a new breed of entertainment retailers offering access services, we are witnessing a revolution in the entertainment industry, benefitting consumers, creators and content owners alike.” ERA acts as a forum for the physical and digital retail sectors of music, and represents over 90% of the of the UK’s entertainment retail market.
  • (13) The observed complications were post-labor hemorrhage (3.1%), polysystolia (4.1%) and vomiting (5.2%), without significant difference with the witness group.
  • (14) At one, in the Gun and Dog pub in Leeds on Tuesday, a witness described how the meeting descended into chaos when one of the rebels smashed a glass and threatened to attack Griffin supporter Mark Collett.
  • (15) My mother told me not to cry.” He has since witnessed the transformation of Hagere Selam.
  • (16) Imagine witnessing a game of bridge being played in the Cabinet War Rooms in the year 2072 AD.
  • (17) The contrast between the two plans is best witnessed from the small park between the Trade Centre and the 1930s National Assembly, one of the few survivors of the earthquake.
  • (18) Results indicate that 75% of the participating boys and 10% of participating girls had witnessed the shooting, stabbing, robbing, or killing of another person in their own lives.
  • (19) FWA chairman Andy Dunn said: "Those members who have been fortunate enough to be working at a match involving Luis Suárez have witnessed an astonishing talent first-hand.
  • (20) The main pregnancy resolution was vaginal via; only 6.3% of the study group subjected cesarean section against 10.3% of the witness group and the most frecuent indication was stationary dilation (1 and 8 cases respectively).

Witticism


Definition:

  • (n.) A witty saying; a sentence or phrase which is affectedly witty; an attempt at wit; a conceit.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But what they take for a witticism might very well be true; most of Ellis's novels tell more or less the same story, about the same alienated ennui, and maybe they really are nothing more than the fictionalised diaries of an unremarkably unhappy man.
  • (2) He enquired as to Morrissey's Christian name and, on being told "Steven", muttered: "I knew it was either that or Jim..." Meanwhile Morrissey remained his shy and retiring self, entering the conversation now and then with a clear point or a dry witticism.
  • (3) Favourite line: Goldfinger, preparing to dissect 007's groin with his laser beam: "Choose your next witticism carefully, Mr Bond, it may be your last."
  • (4) Unkind though it is to remind him of his own cruel witticism aimed at Gordon Brown when he was at his weakest, there is now more than something of Mr Bean about Dr Cable.
  • (5) The question evaporates, however, in the dry witticism, "It is commonly said that this is the difference between the affections and the intellect."
  • (6) The theory is used to conceptualize the humor elicited by jokes, witticisms, and social events that are neither intended nor expected to be humorous.
  • (7) Sadly, tangential forms of humor such as fun, mirth, frivolity, songs, jokes, puns, witticisms, and other forms of humor are not as readily addressed or investigated.
  • (8) ", "Little Princess", "Sweet and tasty" and, of course, the eternally hilarious witticisms upon the acronym FCUK.
  • (9) Everyone knows this putdown: it's nearly as famous as your witticism about everyone thinking rich men need wives.
  • (10) So, here was a polite speech, given to serried ranks of grey-haired architectural folk who laughed politely at studied witticisms and clapped politely when it was over.
  • (11) Nor is that witticism (originally from a 1942 Wall Street Journal article) a particularly good example of the construction that linguists call "preposition stranding", as in "Who did you talk to?"
  • (12) In some cases, this can lead to a pleasant surprise: long-lost pictures, an old witticism, a fragment of a distant conversation.

Words possibly related to "wit"

Words possibly related to "witticism"