Standard Lemma guide

quickwitted

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌkwɪkˈwɪt.ɪd/
  • US: /ˌkwɪkˈwɪt.ɪd/
  • US: [ˌkwɪkˈwɪɾ.ɪd]

1

adj

Meaning 1

Mentally keen and alert.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • She was far too quick-witted to miss the implications of what he was saying.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: quick on the uptake, sharp-witted, astute, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, educated, genius, gifted, hivey, ingenious, intellectual, intelligent, keen, knowledgeable, piquant, quick, quick-witted, rational, sagacious, savvy, scholared, sharp, smart, talented, whip-smart, wise

Antonyms: slow-witted, slow on the uptake, addlebrained, addlepated, airheaded, bee-brained, beef-witted, beefheaded, beetle-headed, birdbrained, blockheaded, Boeotian, boneheaded, boofheaded, braindead, brainless, bubbleheaded, buffle-headed, bullet-headed, cerebrally challenged, childish, chowderheaded, chuckleheaded, crackbrained, cretinous, daft, dense, dented, dim-bulb, dim-headed, dim-witted, dim, doltish, dopey, dozy, drowsy, dull-headed, dull-minded, dull-witted, dull, dumber than a box of rocks, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatheaded, feeble-minded, flea-brained, foolish, fuzzy-headed, fuzzy-minded, goofy, half-brained, half-witted, hammer-headed, idiotic, ignorant, imbecilic, inane, insipid, intellectually challenged, knuckleheaded, lamebrained, lowbrow, lumpish, lunkheaded, mentally challenged, mentally retarded, mindless, monosynaptic, moronic, muttonheaded, nitwitted, numbskulled, oafish, obtuse, peabrained, pratty, pudding-headed, puerile, purblind, quarter-witted, retarded, ridiculous, rockheaded, sharp as a bowling ball, sheep-headed, silly, simple, slow, smooth-brained, stolid, stupid, thick-skulled, thickheaded, thickwitted, thick, unapprehensive, unclever, uninformed, unintelligent, unsmart, vacant, vacuous, witless, wooden-headed, wool-headed, woolly-headed, woolly-minded, dumb as a bag of hammers, dumb as a box of rocks, dumb as a doorknob, dumb as an ox, dumb as a post, dumb as a sack of hammers, dumb as dirt, dumber than a rock, not the sharpest crayon in the box, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, not the sharpest tool in the shed, thick as a brick, thick as a plank, thick as champ, thick as mince, thick as two short planks, thick as a whale omelette, ass-brained, fuckwitted, shit-for-brains, thick as pig shit

History

Etymology

Compound of quick + witted.

Across languages

Translations

31 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: cuciu — mentally keen
  • Bulgarian: схватлив (shvatliv) — mentally keen
  • Bulgarian: находчив (nahodčiv) — mentally keen
  • Chinese Mandarin: 機智 /机智 (jīzhì) — mentally keen
  • Chinese Mandarin: 聰明 /聪明 (cōngmíng) — mentally keen
  • Dutch: scherp van geest — mentally keen
  • Finnish: nokkela — mentally keen
  • Finnish: terävä — mentally keen
  • Finnish: nopeaälyinen — mentally keen
  • Galician: perspicaz — mentally keen
  • German: geistesgegenwärtig — mentally keen
  • German: schlagfertig — mentally keen
  • Italian: sveglio — mentally keen
  • Italian: acuto — mentally keen
  • Italian: perspicace — mentally keen
  • Italian: sagace — mentally keen
  • Italian: svelto — mentally keen
  • Italian: lesto d'ingegno — mentally keen
  • Māori: atamai — mentally keen
  • Māori: ngutu atamai — mentally keen
  • Māori: naho — mentally keen
  • Polish: błyskotliwy — mentally keen
  • Portuguese: perspicaz — mentally keen
  • Russian: поня́тливый (ponjátlivyj) — mentally keen
  • Russian: сообрази́тельный (soobrazítelʹnyj) — mentally keen
  • Russian: дога́дливый (dogádlivyj) — mentally keen
  • Russian: нахо́дчивый (naxódčivyj) — mentally keen
  • Scottish Gaelic: geur-chùiseach — mentally keen
  • Swedish: kvicktänkt — mentally keen
  • Swedish: snabbtänkt — mentally keen
  • Ukrainian: кмітли́вий (kmitlývyj) — mentally keen