Meanings
- uncountableThe intelligence or common sense with which one is normally born.
But with his native wit and musical intelligence, Pavarotti cannot act dumb.
1978 March 6, “Music: Luciano's Back in Town”, in Time4 more examples
But the most valuable parts of his performance are those which retired study and native wit cannot supply.
1781, Samuel Johnson, “Samuel Butler”, in Lives of the PoetsNelly Kirkpatrick was a great, red-haired giant of a woman, very illiterate, but with some native wit, and good-hearted enough, I am told, when she was in her right mind.
c. 1870, Bayard Taylor, “Mrs. Strongitharm's Report”, in Beauty and The Beast and Tales of HomeOr we might go practically unaccompanied, relying on our native wit and good fortune to attain our ends.
1916, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 8, in The Ivory ChildNeedy, venal and entirely unencumbered with self-knowledge or native wit, the Duchess is yet again the architect of her own misfortune.
2011 March 9, Judith Woods, “The Royal Family: Put a royal sock in it, Sarah”, in telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 04 Apr 2011Synonyms: good sense, mother wit
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe intelligence or common sense with which one is normally born.
Cite this entry
native wit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/native%20wit
“native wit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/native%20wit. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “native wit,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/native%20wit.
Source: native wit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.