Word of the Day

adjective

"Leaf (Joe McCourt), the wifty product of hippie parents, seems to be taken over by aliens each time he spells a word." — From a theatre review by Lawrence Toppman in the Charlotte Observer, May 11, 2012

"The [American Idol] judges only have to lounge around, and make some wifty comment about the performance." — From a column by David Hiltbrand in the Philadelphia Inquirer, January 7, 2012

"Wifty" is a synonym of "ditzy." And, like "ditzy," its origins remain unknown. The earliest known print appearance of "wifty" is in a quotation that appeared in the Delaware County Daily Times (Chester, Pennsylvania) in 1972, though the word was certainly being used in spoken English before that. "Ditzy" appears to be almost as old as "wifty"—we are able to trace it back to at least 1974. But "dizzy," which in its Old English origins meant "foolish" or "stupid," has been used in a sense similar to "ditzy" or "wifty" since the 16th century.

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