witlingn.
/ˈwɪtlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈwɪtlɪŋ/ A petty wit (see wit n. 9, 10); one who fancies himself a wit; a pretender to wit (see wit n. 5, 7); one who utters light or feeble witticisms.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > [noun] > witty person > inferior
penny-wit1619
underwit1655
wit-would1678
witling1693
1693 J. Dryden tr. Persius Satires Prol. 3 Let Gain, that gilded Bait, be hung on high, The hungry Witlings have it in their Eye.
1702 Eng. Theophrastus 6 There are many impertinent Witlings at Will's.
1712 A. Pope Rape of Locke ii, in Misc. Poems 371 A Beau and Witling perish'd in the Throng, One dy'd in Metaphor, and one in Song.
1807 Salmagundi 4 Feb. 24 Does any witling want to distress the company with a miserable pun?
1876 G. Meredith Beauchamp's Career II. i. 13 ‘What's in hand?’.. Luckily some witling said, ‘Fours-in-hand!’ and so drily that it passed for humour.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1928; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1693