Home North American English whit

Definition of whit in US English:

whit

noun

  • A very small part or amount.

    ‘the last whit of warmth was drawn off by the setting sun’
    • ‘All of which now makes me wonder: when you come right down to it, did the antitrust trial of the century make a whit of difference?’
    • ‘No amount of talk, therapy or talk therapy will make a whit of difference.’
    • ‘Did the ending make a whit of sense?’
    scrap, bit, tiny amount, speck, iota, particle, ounce, jot, atom, crumb, shred, morsel, trifle, fragment, grain, drop, touch, trace, shadow, suggestion, whisper, suspicion, scintilla, spot, mite, tittle, jot or tittle, modicum
    View synonyms

Phrases

  • every whit

    • Wholly.

      ‘my mother was fond of her and I shall be every whit as fond’
      • ‘Elvis made more money but Boots Roots was every whit as successful.’
      • ‘I was an incomparably weaker man than Raffles, while every whit as wicked.’
      • ‘Their gowns were every whit as costly as those of the ladies.’
      • ‘Navigating successfully through these novel assumptions will take every whit of mature perspective and human relations expertise that US military leaders can muster.’
      • ‘But the Genevan church showed itself every whit as masterful and dogmatic as its Roman rival, and its actions were equally justified by an appeal to Divine authority.’
      • ‘The builders of the Pyramids were every whit as good as Newton.’
      • ‘Augier replied in language every whit as cutting as that used by his critic.’
      • ‘And the purification is by the communication of a new life and nature in which we are clean every whit.’
      • ‘It would make it every whit as absurd as the ancient system of Pagan polytheism, which, admitting a plurality of deities, allowed an intercommunity among them and their worshipers.’
      • ‘Miss Braham was every whit as charming and seductive as she had been, some years ago, in the analogous part of Patience.’

  • not (or never) a whit

    • Not at all.

      ‘Sara had not changed a whit’
      • ‘And if Mr. Chandran is dubbed as brash and outspoken by the industry's bigwigs, he does not seem to care a whit.’
      • ‘In most cases, she wouldn't give a whit about anything happening in Maura's life.’
      • ‘But at that exact moment I did not care a whit what they or any one else thought.’
      • ‘A majority of Australians knows this and it doesn't matter a whit whether the Opposition likes it or not.’
      • ‘We have never got to the bottom of what happened on the Dirt issue and nobody seems to care a whit about it.’
      • ‘My point is we're not voting because it doesn't make a whit of difference.’
      • ‘The development of science did not slow down a whit when scientists ceased to publish in Latin.’
      • ‘Not a whit of the initial passion for his work has left him 20 years after his campaign.’
      • ‘Most of the dialogue was so-so, but it didn't spoil the movie a whit.’
      • ‘However, the core concern of the business-friendly right hasn't changed a whit.’

Origin

Late Middle English: apparently an alteration of obsolete wight ‘small amount’.

Pronunciation

whit

/(h)wɪt//(h)wit/