Dictionary

afterwit en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep(o)teros Proto-Germanic *after Old English æfter Middle English after English after ▲ Old English æfter Old English æfter- Middle English after- English after- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *wóyde Proto-Germanic *witaną Proto-Germanic *witją Proto-West Germanic *witi Old English witt Middle English wit English wit English afterwit From after- + wit.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Wisdom which comes after the event.
   • There is always a danger of afterwit in estimating the early achievements of men who have achieved fame […]. 1894, “On the Relation of Tennyson’s Life to His Works”, in M. F. Libby, editor, Selections from Tennyson, Toronto: Copp, Clark, page 11:
   • After wits are dearely bought, / Let thy fore-wit guide thy thought. 1595, Robert Southwell, “Losse in Delayes”, in Saint Peters Complaynt With Other Poems, London: Gabriel Cawood, page 50:
   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange (translator), Fables of Æsop, London: R. Sare et al., Fable 162, “A Nightingale and a Bat,” There’s No Recalling of what’s Gone and Past; so that After-Wit comes too Late when the Mischief is Done.
   • Trust me, dear Yorick, this unwary pleasantry of thine will sooner or later bring thee into scrapes and difficulties, which no after-wit can extricate thee out of. 1760, Laurence Sterne, chapter 12, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume 1, page 63:
2. (countable, uncountable) The lack of forethought.
3. (countable, uncountable) A good comeback, retort one thinks of only after the end of discussion or after leaving a social gathering.

Forms

Antonyms

forewit

Synonyms

staircase wit · l'esprit de l'escalier · (neologism) retrotort