afterwit
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A good comeback, retort one thinks of only after the end of discussion or after leaving a social gathering.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "After wits are dearely bought, / Let thy fore-wit guide thy thought."
- "1692, Roger L’Estrange (translator), Fables of Æsop, London: R. Sare et al., Fable 162, “A Nightingale and a Bat,” There’s No Recalling of what’s Gone and Past; so that After-Wit comes too Late when the Mischief is Done."
- "Trust me, dear Yorick, this unwary pleasantry of thine will sooner or later bring thee into scrapes and difficulties, which no after-wit can extricate thee out of."
- "There is always a danger of afterwit in estimating the early achievements of men who have achieved fame […]."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep(o)teros Proto-Germanic *after Old English æfter Middle English after English after ▲ Old English æfter Old English æfter- Middle English after- English after- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *wóyde Proto-Germanic *witaną Proto-Germanic *witją Proto-West Germanic *witi Old English witt Middle English wit English wit English afterwit From after- + wit.