different between adroit vs witty

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French adroit, from French à (“on the; to”) (from Old French a (“to; towards”), from Latin ad (“to; towards”), from Proto-Indo-European *ád (“at; near”)) + French droit (“right”) (from Old French droit, dreit, from Vulgar Latin *dr?ctus, syncopated form of Latin d?rectus (“laid straight; direct, straight; level; upright”), perfective passive participle of d?rig? (“to lay straight”), from dis- (“apart, in two”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dwís (“twice; in two”)) + reg? (“to govern, rule; to guide, steer”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h?ré?eti (“to be straightening, setting upright”))).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /??d???t/
• Rhymes: -??t

Adjective

adroit (comparative adroiter or more adroit, superlative adroitest or most adroit)

1. Deft, dexterous, or skillful.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:skillful

Antonyms

• clumsy
• maladroit

Derived terms

• adroitness
• adroitly
• maladroit

Translations

Anagrams

• Tirado

French

Etymology

à + droit. Doublet of adret.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.d?wa/

Adjective

adroit (feminine singular adroite, masculine plural adroits, feminine plural adroites)

1. skilful, apt, skilled (possessing skill, skilled)

Descendants

• ? English: adroit
• ? German: adrett
  • ? Danish: adræt

Further reading

• “adroit” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• dorait, rodait, rôdait

English

Etymology

From Middle English witty, witti, from Old English witti? (“clever, wise”), equivalent to wit +? -y,See Norwegian Bokmål vettig.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?ti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?ti/, [?w??i]
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

witty (comparative wittier, superlative wittiest)

1. (obsolete) Wise, having good judgement.

   • Then cam there a lady that was a wytty lady, and she seyde playnly unto the Kyng […] that he sholde never be hole but yf that Sir Trystrames wente into the same contrey than the venym came fro, and in that contrey sholde he be holpyn, other ellys never.

2. (archaic) Possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity; intelligent, skilful, ingenious.
3. Clever; amusingly ingenious.

4. Full of wit.

5. Quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits.

Synonyms

• facetious
• humorous
• jocose
• jocular
• quick
• lively
• See also Thesaurus:witty

Translations