witling

English

Etymology

From wit +‎ -ling.

Noun

witling (plural witlings)

1. A person who feigns wit, pretending or aspiring to be witty.
   • 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 12, lines 218–221:

     I ne'r vvith VVits and VVitlings paſt my days, / To ſpread about the Itch of Verſe and Praiſe, / Nor like a Puppy daggled thro' the Tovvn, / To fetch and carry Sing-ſong up and dovvn; […]

2. A person with very little wit.
   • 1942, Maurine Whipple, The Giant Joshua:

     "But the witlings of the bunch were those two swaggering there in the popular conception of western dress...."

   • 1955, Rex Stout, Immune to Murder:

     "...only a witling would call a man with my conceit a liar."

Anagrams

• wilting