Standard Lemma guide

Wellerism

noun · 3 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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A proverb, often a fatuous one, attributed to speaker in a situation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of Wellerism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

Examples

  • 2002, Fionnuala Carson Williams, Wellerisms in Ireland, University of Vermont, page 38, In many cases where a wellerism and a folktale are connected the quote in the wellerism is a set sentence like 'Up and at it!' which is well-known apart from the wellerism.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a comparison comprising a well-known quotation followed by a facetious sequel

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: rhetorical device

History

Etymology

From Weller + -ism, after the character Sam Weller in Charles Dickens' 1836 novel The Pickwick Papers.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: wellerismi — proverb
  • German: Wellerismus — proverb
  • German: Sagwort — proverb
  • Italian: wellerismo — proverb