noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Wisdom which comes after the event. countable, uncountable

   "After wits are dearely bought, / Let thy fore-wit guide thy thought."

2. 2
   The lack of forethought. countable, uncountable
3. 3
   A good comeback, retort one thinks of only after the end of discussion or after leaving a social gathering. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

(neologism) retrotortl'esprit de l'escalierstaircase wit

Antonyms

All antonyms

forewit

Example

More examples

"After wits are dearely bought, / Let thy fore-wit guide thy thought."

Etymology

From after- + wit.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.