witticism

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/

Noun

witticism (plural witticisms)

1. a witty remark
   • 1883: George Eliot, The Essays of George Eliot, chapter 4

     Shock of the witticism is a powerful one; while mere fun will have no power over them if it jar on their moral taste.

   • 2015: Hans Rollman, Freedom of Speech: It’s Complicated, PopMatters

     While the occasional wry witticism seeps through, overall Shipler is painfully conscientious about trying to offer both sides of any debate.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:joke

Translations

witty remark

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 妙語／妙语 (zh) (miàoyǔ), 妙语 (zh) (miàoyǔ), 雋語／隽语 (zh) (juànyǔ), 隽语 (zh) (juànyǔ), 俏皮話／俏皮话 (zh), 俏皮话 (zh) (qiàopíhuà), 諧語／谐语, 谐语 (xiéyǔ)

• Finnish: sukkeluus (fi)
• French: mot d’esprit (fr) m, trait d’esprit (fr) m
• German: Witz (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: freddura (it) f, battuta (it) f, frizzo (it) m, spiritosità f, spiritosaggine f, arguzia (it) f
• Latin: dictum (la) n, dictērium n
• Russian: остро́та (ru) n (ostróta)
• Spanish: lindeza (es), humorada, ocurrencia (es)
• Swedish: kvickhet (sv) c

See also

• bon mot
• gag
• jape
• joke
• one-liner