Words for the Day
flum·mox
[fluhm-uhks]
verb (used with object) Informal.
to bewilder; confound; confuse.
Origin:
1830–40; origin uncertain
***
wit
[wit]
noun
1.
the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure. Synonyms: drollery, facetiousness, waggishness, repartee.
2.
speech or writing showing such perception and expression. Synonyms: banter, joking, witticism, quip, raillery, badinage, persiflage; bon mot.
3.
a person having or noted for such perception and expression. Synonyms: wag, jester, epigrammatist, satirist.
4.
understanding, intelligence, or sagacity; astuteness. Synonyms: wisdom, sense, mind.
5.
Usually, wits.
a.
powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness: using one's wits to get ahead. Synonyms: cleverness, cunning, wisdom, insight, perspicacity, sacaciousness, acumen.
b.
mental faculties; senses: to lose one's wits; frightened out of one's wits. Synonyms: mind, sanity; brains, marbles.
Idioms
6.
at one's wit's end, at the end of one's ideas or mental resources; perplexed: My two-year-old won't eat anything but pizza, and I'm at my wit's end.
7.
keep / have one's wits about one, to remain alert and observant; be prepared for or equal to anything: to keep your wits about you in a crisis.
as opposed to...
8.
live by one's wits, to provide for oneself by employing ingenuity or cunning; live precariously: We traveled around the world, living by our wits.
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