witzig
German
Etymology
Formally from Middle High German wizzic, wizzec (“wise, sensible”), from Old High German wizzīg (“wise, sensible”), from Proto-West Germanic *witīg. The modern sense developed in the 18th century following the sense of the noun, thus by surface analysis, Witz (“wit/joke”) + -ig (“-y”). Related to English witty (English -y), through Old English wittiġ (“clever, wise”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvɪtsɪç/ (Germany)
Audio: (file) (Germany)
- IPA(key): /ˈvɪtsɪk/ (Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
- Hyphenation: wit‧zig
Adjective
witzig (strong nominative masculine singular witziger, comparative witziger, superlative am witzigsten)
- funny, humorous
- (archaic) resourceful
Declension
Positive forms of witzig
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist witzig | sie ist witzig | es ist witzig | sie sind witzig | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | witziger | witzige | witziges | witzige |
genitive | witzigen | witziger | witzigen | witziger | |
dative | witzigem | witziger | witzigem | witzigen | |
accusative | witzigen | witzige | witziges | witzige | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der witzige | die witzige | das witzige | die witzigen |
genitive | des witzigen | der witzigen | des witzigen | der witzigen | |
dative | dem witzigen | der witzigen | dem witzigen | den witzigen | |
accusative | den witzigen | die witzige | das witzige | die witzigen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein witziger | eine witzige | ein witziges | (keine) witzigen |
genitive | eines witzigen | einer witzigen | eines witzigen | (keiner) witzigen | |
dative | einem witzigen | einer witzigen | einem witzigen | (keinen) witzigen | |
accusative | einen witzigen | eine witzige | ein witziges | (keine) witzigen |
Comparative forms of witzig
Superlative forms of witzig
Synonyms
Further reading
- “witzig” in Duden online
- “witzig” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “witzig” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “witzig” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.