nitwit
/ˈnɪtwɪt/noun
nitwit is spelled N-I-T-W-I-T: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 80,453rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nitwit means “A scatterbrained or stupid person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nitwit is nitwits.
How many letters and syllables are in nitwit?
| Letters | 6: N-I-T-W-I-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 80,453rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is nitwit?
Nitwit appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 80,453rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nitwit?
- US /ˈnɪtwɪt/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-nitwit.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of nitwit
- nitwits plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nitwit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalA scatterbrained or stupid person.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nitwit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense scatterbrained or stupid person:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Schwachkopf, Dummkopf |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nitwit come from?
First attested in the 1910s in the US Northeast. Likely from German nit, dialect form of nichts (“nothing”), or Yiddish ניט (nit), dialect form of נישט (nisht, “no”), although some dictionaries give the alternative etymology nit (“louse egg; something very small”) + wit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).