witling

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English

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Etymology

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From wit +‎ -ling.

Noun

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witling (plural witlings)

  1. A person who feigns wit, pretending or aspiring to be witty.
    • 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: [] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver [], →OCLC, page 12, lines 218–221:
      I ne'r vvith VVits and VVitlings paſt my days, / To ſpread about the Itch of Verſe and Praiſe, / Nor like a Puppy daggled thro' the Tovvn, / To fetch and carry Sing-ſong up and dovvn; []
  2. A person with very little wit.
    • 1942, Maurine Whipple, The Giant Joshua:
      "But the witlings of the bunch were those two swaggering there in the popular conception of western dress...."
    • 1955, Rex Stout, Immune to Murder:
      "...only a witling would call a man with my conceit a liar."

Anagrams

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