wits' end

See also: wit's end

English

Alternative forms

• wit's end (US)

Noun

wits' end (plural wits' ends)

1. (chiefly British) The limit of one's sanity or mental capacity; the point of desperation.
   • 1699, Edward Taylor, The Poems of Edward Taylor, published 1989, page 136:

     The Seamen they
     Bestir their stumps, and at wits end do weep.
     Wake, Jonas, who saith
     Heave me over deck.

   • 1868 January 4 – June 6, [William] Wilkie Collins, “First Period. The Loss of the Diamond (1848). […]”, in The Moonstone. A Romance. […], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1868, →OCLC, chapter XXII, page 29:

     He was so eloquent in drawing the picture of his own neglected merits, and so pathetic in lamenting over it when it was done, that I felt quite at my wits' end how to console him, when it suddenly occurred to me that here was a case for the wholesome application of a bit of Robinson Crusoe.

   • 1905, Upton Sinclair, chapter XVIII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC:

     The frightened women were at their wits' end.

   • c. 1911, John Muir, in John Muir and Michael P. Branch, John Muir's Last Journey: South to the Amazon and East to Africa (2002 edition), page 138:

     Our dozen cabin passengers sorely put to wits' end to pass yesterday without cards in observance of the Sabbath.

   • 2010 December 10, Leo Cendrowicz, “Talks on Iran's Nuclear Program Produce ... More Talks”, in Time:

     Yet years of talks, threats and sanctions have failed to halt the program, and officials are at their wits' end on how to wean Iran off its nuclear habit.

Usage notes

• The form wits' end is preferred nearly 3 to 1 in the UK (BNC).
• The form wit's end is preferred more than 2 to 1 in the US (COCA).

Translations

at (one's) wits' end — see perplexed

See also

• perplexed

Anagrams

• detwins, windest