different between brisk vs witty

English

Etymology

Uncertain. Compare Welsh brwysg and French brusque.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??sk/
• Rhymes: -?sk

Adjective

brisk (comparative brisker or more brisk, superlative briskest or most brisk)

1. Full of liveliness and activity; characterized by quickness of motion or action

   Synonyms: lively, spirited, quick

   We took a brisk walk yesterday.
2. Full of spirit of life; effervescing
3. (archaic) sparkling; fizzy

   brisk cider

4. Stimulating or invigorating.

   This morning was a brisk fall day. It wasn't cold enough for frost, but you wanted to keep moving.
5. Abrupt, curt in one's manner or in relation to others.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 15

     Her manner was brisk, and her good-breeding scarcely concealed her conviction that if you were not a soldier you might as well be a counter-jumper.

Translations

See also

• brusque

Verb

brisk (third-person singular simple present brisks, present participle brisking, simple past and past participle brisked)

1. (transitive, intransitive, often with "up") To make or become lively; to enliven; to animate.

Further reading

• brisk in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• brisk in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• brisk at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Birks, birks

Albanian

Etymology

From brej, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *bhrisqo- (“bitter”). Compare Norwegian brisk (“bitter taste”), brisken (“bitter, sharp”), Welsh brysg, French brusque, Russian ????????? (brezgát?, “nauseate, feel disgust”), English brisk.

Noun

brisk m

1. razor
2. sharp, smart, keen, freezing cold

Lithuanian

Alternative forms

• briski

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [b?r??s?k]

Verb

brìsk

1. second-person singular imperative of bristi

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Possibly onomatopoetic of the sound made when put on fire.

Noun

brisk m (definite singular brisken, indefinite plural briskar, definite plural briskane)

1. juniper

Synonyms

• brake, einer

Etymology 2

From Middle Low German britse, britsche, briske.

Noun

brisk m (definite singular brisken, indefinite plural briskar, definite plural briskane)

1. a wall-bound sleeping bench

References

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