witticism
/ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/
"witticism" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“witticism” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.
Corpus desk
Index EN-witticism · witticism · English
witticism · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | witticism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “witticism” in English
Rare enough to double-check
witticism is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwɪ.tɪ.sɪz.əm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for witticism in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From witty + -icism; coined in the 1670s by John Dryden, by analogy to criticism. The correct English form is witticism, spelled W-I-T-T-I-C-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1a witty remark; a bon mot; an epigram; a zinger.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how witticism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"Take any shape but that!" is what I always feel tempted to exclaim when dulness attempts a joke; striving to pervert some poor innocent and ill-used word from its lawful meaning till it ceases to have any at all—worrying some unfortunate idea till, like the hunted hare, it is worried to death—dealing in witticisms whose edge has long since been worn off…
Shock of the witticism is a powerful one; while mere fun will have no power over them if it jar on their moral taste.
Etymology
From witty + -icism; coined in the 1670s by John Dryden, by analogy to criticism.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.