witticism

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/

Noun

witticism (plural witticisms)

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 (zh), 妙语 (zh) (miàoyǔ), 雋語 (zh), 隽语 (zh) (juànyǔ), 俏皮話 (zh), 俏皮话 (zh) (qiàopíhuà), 諧語, 谐语 (xiéyǔ)
Finnish: sukkeluus (fi)
French: mot d'esprit (fr) m, trait d'esprit (fr) m
German: Witz (de) m

Italian: freddura (it) f, battuta (it) f, frizzo (it) m
Latin: dictum (la) n, dictērium n
Russian: остро́та (ru) n (ostróta)
Swedish: kvickhet (sv) c

See also

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