whit

noun \ ˈhwit , ˈwit \

Definition of whit

:the smallest part or particle imaginable :bit

what some people will do for a whit of publicity
—Patrick Quinn

See whit defined for English-language learners

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Examples of whit in a Sentence

I care not a whit about what other people think.

Recent Examples of whit from the Web

This census might even reveal a few who don't care a whit about the city's professional sports teams.

— david isaacson, Chicago Reader, "Hard hat, lunch pail: The myth of toughness in Chicago sports," 15 Aug. 2017
Hank Aaron’s legacy as a player is not diminished one whit by the fact that his name is no longer atop a list of names and numbers.

— jay jaffe, SI.com, "It's Time To Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Barry Bonds' Home Run Record," 7 Aug. 2017
Staying in would not benefit the global environment one whit, but instead, by impoverishing millions of people, would have exactly the opposite effect.

— joshua emerson smith, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Experts divided on fallout if Trump withdraws from climate change accord," 31 May 2017
Most of these characters were set in stone four movies ago and haven’t evolved one whit.

— robert w. butler, kansascity.com, "That sinking feeling: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’," 24 May 2017
And the consensus among the political class is that nothing anyone says now matters a whit until after the midterms.

— william d. cohan, The Hive, "Inside Clintonworld, Insiders Are Agonizing About What Comes Next," 8 May 2017
That ESPN’s Mel Kiper and CBS Sports’ Rob Rang handed the Falcons a B-minus for this draft bothers me not one whit.

— mark bradley, ajc, "In its measured way, the Falcons’ draft was a winner," 1 May 2017
This has not changed, a whit, since the talking heads here and there have lost their collective minds, worrying about an American strike on North Korea.

— robert bateman, Esquire, "Why You Should Take a Deep Breath Before Freaking Out About North Korea," 15 Apr. 2017
The Reagan and Obama teams were courteous and respectful, but in the initial period, the views of civil servants sometimes didn’t matter a whit.

— cass r. sunstein, The Denver Post, "Trump’s first 50 days are decisive," 24 Jan. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of whit

Middle English, probably alteration of wiht, wight creature, thing — more at wight

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First Known Use: 15th century

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whit Synonyms

Synonyms

beans, bubkes (also bupkes or bupkus), continental, damn, darn (also durn), diddly [slang], diddly-squat [slang], doodley-squat (or doodly-squat), fig, ghost, hoot, iota, lick, modicum, rap, squat [slang], syllable, tittle, jot, whoop

Related Words

ace, bit, crumb, dab, driblet, glimmer, hint, little, mite, nip, ounce, particle, peanuts, pin, ray, scrap, scruple, semblance, shade, shadow, shred, skosh, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), snap, speck, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, touch, trace

WHIT Defined for English Language Learners

whit

noun

Definition of whit for English Language Learners

: a very small amount

WHIT Defined for Kids

whit

noun \ ˈhwit , ˈwit \

Definition of whit for Students

:a very small amount

That tree hadn't grown one whit in all that time.
—Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

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