witticism
/ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/noun
witticism is spelled W-I-T-T-I-C-I-S-M: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, witticism means “a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of witticism is witticisms.
How many letters and syllables are in witticism?
| Letters | 9: W-I-T-T-I-C-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 18 million words; the 127,184th 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 witticism?
Witticism appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th 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 witticism?
- US /ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/
Witticism has 4 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-witticism.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of witticism
- witticisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does witticism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Witticism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense witty remark:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mot d'esprit, trait d'esprit |
| German | (guter) Spruch, geflügeltes Wort, Bonmot, witzige Bemerkung, geistreiche Bemerkung |
| Spanish | lindeza, humorada, ocurrencia, argucia, donaire, volada |
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 witticism come from?
From witty + -icism; coined in the 1670s by John Dryden, by analogy to criticism.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).