witless

English

Etymology

From Middle English witles, from Old English witlēas (“senseless; witless”), from Proto-Germanic *witjalausaz (“witless”), equivalent to wit +‎ -less. Cognate with Swedish vettlös (“senseless; witless; wild”), Icelandic vitlaus (“senseless; witless; foolish; mad”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

witless (comparative more witless, superlative most witless)

1. Lacking wit or understanding; foolish.
   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene v:

     Then will we march to all thoſe Indian Mines,
     My witleſſe brother to the Chriſtians loſt:
     And ranſome them with fame and vſurie.

   • 1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson;  […], published 1634, →OCLC, Act II, scene iii, page 31:

     To be his whore, is witles; Out upon't;

2. Indiscreet; not using clear and sound judgment.
3. Mindless, lacking conscious thought or the capacity for it.
   • 1941, Theodore Roethke, “Open House”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 3:

     Rage warps my clearest cry
     To witless agony.

Usage notes

• This term is frequently found in phrases such as scared witless, witless with fear, and so on.

Antonyms

• witful

Derived terms

• witless wonder
• witlessly
• witlessness

Translations

Without wit or understanding

• Bulgarian: глупав (bg) (glupav), тъп (bg) (tăp)
• Catalan: desentenimentat
• Finnish: järjetön (fi), älytön (fi)
• French: stupide (fr)
• Georgian: უჭკუო (uč̣ḳuo), უგუნური (ugunuri), სულელური (suleluri)
• German: geistfrei n (formal), sinnfrei (de), hirnlos (de) (colloquial), dumm (de), blöde (de)
• Persian: بی‌خرد (bi-xerad)
• Russian: безмозглый (ru) m (bezmozglyj)

References

• “witless”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Wiltses, twissel