Wit vs Repartee - What's the difference?
wit | repartee |
Sanity.
The senses.
Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.
The ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially under short time constraints.
Intelligence; common sense.
Humour, especially when clever or quick.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.
(ambitransitive, chiefly, archaic) Know, be aware of .
* 1849 , , St. Luke the Painter , lines 5–8
(en-SoE)
A swift, witty reply, especially one that is amusing.
* 1919 ,
* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick)
A conversation marked by a series of witty retorts.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
To reply with a
* {{quote-book, year=1862, author=Various, section=Vol. 2 No 4, title=The Continental Monthly, chapter=, edition=
, passage=Aubrey speaks of him as 'incomparable at reparteeing , the bull that was bayted, his witt beinge most sparkling, when most set on and provoked.' }}
To have a (conversation marked by repartees)
* {{quote-book, year=1913, author=Gouverneur Morris, title=The Penalty, chapter=, edition=
, passage=To see them together, friendly, reparteeing , chummy, would turn your stomach--Barbara so exquisite and high-born, and the man, his eyes full of evil fires, sitting like a great toad on the model's chair. }}
As nouns the difference between wit and repartee
is that wit is sanity while repartee is a swift, witty reply, especially one that is amusing.As verbs the difference between wit and repartee
is that wit is know, be aware of construed with of when used intransitively while repartee is to reply with a repartee.As a preposition wit
is {{en-SoE}} an alternative spelling of lang=en.wit
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) . Compare (m).Noun
(en noun)Synonyms
* See alsoDerived terms
* brevity is the soul of wit * collect one's wits * gather one's wits * have one’s wits about one * inwit * mother wit * native wit * scare out of one’s wits * witcraft * witful * witless * witling * witter * wittol * witticismSee also
(type of humor) * acid * biting * cutting * lambentEtymology 2
From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) . Compare (m).Verb
(head)- You committed terrible actions — to wit , murder and theft — and should be punished accordingly.
- They are meddling in matters that men should not wit of.
- but soon having wist
- How sky-breadth and field-silence and this day
- Are symbols also in some deeper way,
- She looked through these to God and was God’s priest.
Conjugation
{, , - , valign="top" , {, class="prettytable" , - ! Infinitive , to wit , - ! Imperative , wit , - ! Present participle , witting , - ! Past participle , wist , } , valign="top" , {, class="prettytable" , - ! ! Present indicative ! Past indicative , - ! First-person singular , I wot , I wist , - ! Second-person singular , thou wost, wot(test) (archaic); you wot , thou wist(est) (archaic), you wist , - ! Third-person singular , he/she/it wot , he/she/it wist , - ! First-person plural , we wit(e) , we wist , - ! Second-person plural , ye wit(e) (archaic); you wit(e) , ye wist (archaic), you wist , - ! Third-person plural , they wit(e) , they wist , } , }Usage notes
* As a preterite-present verb, the third-person singular indicative form is not .Derived terms
* to wit * unwitting * witnessEtymology 3
From English with.Preposition
(head)repartee
English
Noun
(en noun)- A slight smile broke on his lips. ¶ "You are always prepared to sacrifice your principles for a repartee ," he answered.
- Yet habit—strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?—Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, and brighter repartees , you never heard over your mahogany
Synonyms
* See alsoVerb
citation
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