Wit.
Synonyms:
| banter, | fun, | joke, | waggery, |
| burlesque, | humor, | playfulness, | waggishness, |
| drollery, | jest, | pleasantry, | witticism. |
| facetiousness, | jocularity, | raillery, | |
Wit is the quick perception of unusual or commonly unperceived analogies or relations between things apparently unrelated, and has been said to depend upon a union of surprise and pleasure; it depends certainly on the production of a diverting, entertaining, or merrymaking surprise. The analogies with which wit plays are often superficial or artificial; humor deals with real analogies of an amusing or entertaining kind, or with traits of character that are seen to have a comical side as soon as brought to view. Wit is keen, sudden, brief, and sometimes severe; humor is deep, thoughtful, sustained, and always kindly. Pleasantry is lighter and less vivid than wit. Fun denotes the merry results produced by wit and humor, or by any fortuitous occasion of mirth, and is pronounced and often hilarious.
Antonyms:
dulness, seriousness, sobriety, solemnity, stolidity, stupidity.
gravity,