Wit

Wit is a form of intelligent humour—the ability to say or write things that are clever and typically funny.

As in the wit of Dorothy Parker's set, the Algonquin Round Table, witty remarks may be intentionally cruel (as also in many epigrams), and perhaps more ingenious than funny.

Repartee is the wit of the quick answer and capping comment: the snappy comeback and neat retort.

Metaphysical poetry as a style was prevalent in the time of English playwright William Shakespeare, who admonished pretension with the phrase "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit".

[3] It may combine word play with conceptual thinking, as a kind of verbal display requiring attention, without intending to be laugh-out-loud funny.