Hoot vs Witty - What's the difference?
hoot | witty |
A derisive cry or shout.
The cry of an owl.
(US, slang) A fun event or person. (See hootenanny)
A small particle
* 1878 , John Hanson Beadle, Western Wilds, and the Men who Redeem Them , page 611, Jones Brothers, 1878
To cry out or shout in contempt.
* Dryden
To make the cry of an owl.
* Shakespeare
To assail with contemptuous cries or shouts; to follow with derisive shouts.
* Jonathan Swift
(label) Wise, having good judgement.
*, Bk.VIII, Ch.viij:
*:Then cam there a lady that was a wytty lady, and she seyde playnly unto the Kyngthat he sholde never be hole but yf that Sir Trystrames wente into the same contrey than the venym came fro, and in that contrey sholde he be holpyn, other ellys never.
(label) Possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity; intelligent, skilful, ingenious.
*, II.7:
*:It hath beene a witty invention.
Clever; amusingly ingenious.
:
Full of wit.
:
Quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits.
:
As a noun hoot
is a derisive cry or shout.As a verb hoot
is to cry out or shout in contempt.As an adjective witty is
(label) wise, having good judgement.hoot
English
Noun
(en noun)- Well, it was Sunday morning, and the wheat nothing like ripe; but it was a chance, and I got onto my reaper and banged down every hoot of it before Monday night.
Usage notes
* (small particle) The term is nearly always encountered in a negative sense in such phrases as don't care a hoot'' or ''don't give two hoots . * (derisive cry) The phrase a hoot and a holler'' has a very different meaning to ''hoot and holler''. The former is a short distance, the latter is a verb of ''derisive cry .Verb
(en verb)- Matrons and girls shall hoot at thee no more.
- the clamorous owl that nightly hoots
- Partridge and his clan may hoot me for a cheat.