How to Use sharp-witted in a Sentence

sharp-witted

adjective
  • Suzuki is a young beatnik of Greenwich Village, a moral, sharp-witted kid wanting a place where children can be taken seriously, free to manage their own affairs.
    — Literary Hub, 10 June 2026
  • More than 40 years after Paula Poundstone first appeared on late-night, the comedian is still performing her sharp-witted brand of comedy.
    — Jennifer Day, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Abbington plays Eve, a sharp-witted, slightly off-kilter actress whose obsession with the case pulls her into the investigative orbit and complicates the group dynamic.
    — Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 16 Feb. 2026
  • Simbi Khali played Nina Campbell, the sharp-witted assistant who often reacted to the Solomons’ antics with amused disbelief.
    — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 31 Jan. 2026
  • And Sister Bernadette, 88, regularly shares sharp-witted observations about matters both sacred and secular over a ritual cup of coffee.
    — Esme Nicholson, NPR, 1 Dec. 2025
  • Forced into an uneasy alliance with a sharp-witted poacher living on the margins of society (Kellyman), the two women fight back, turning their powerlessness into strength through violence, wit, and defiance.
    — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Nowhere is the ham-handed effort more evident than in Texas, where a blend of culture war grievance and incel-targeting rage have circled the sharp-witted but mild-mannered Talarico, whose campaign is shaping up to be a fundraising juggernaut.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 2 June 2026
  • Curtis is set to step into the role of Jessica Fletcher, the sharp-witted mystery writer and amateur detective famously portrayed by Angela Lansbury in the original television series.
    — Staff Author, PEOPLE, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Known primarily for his genre-defining work in music, Rocky’s latest turn as Yung Felon — a sharp-witted, ambitious rap artist — places him directly alongside screen legend Denzel Washington in some of the film’s most talked-about scenes.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Fox reclaims the notorious lady-in-waiting from centuries of scandal, revealing a sharp-witted, politically savvy woman caught in the tyrannical court of Henry VIII.
    — Phillipa Gregory, PEOPLE, 4 Oct. 2025
  • On Christmas Eve, Cliff (Strassner), a down-on-his luck comedian who can’t catch a break, chips a tooth, and suddenly finds himself in the late-night care of Didi (Liz Larsen), a sharp-witted, no-nonsense dentist.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Ripa was playing chess — not checkers — with this bold Beth Harmon outfit, perfectly recreating Anya Taylor-Joy’s sharp-witted character from The Queen’s Gambit.
    — Kate Hogan, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
  • In the film, Tyler, the Creator — credited under his full name, Tyler Okonma — plays Wally, a sharp-witted taxi driver who, like Chalamet’s Marty Mauser, is a ping-pong obsessive.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 29 Dec. 2025
  • After Diablo Cody’s Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay for Juno (2007), the screenwriter followed up the breakout hit with this sharp-witted, gory take on female rage and power dynamics.
    — Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 6 Aug. 2025
  • This Netflix holiday flick follows Sophia (Olivia Holt), a sharp-witted retail clerk juggling two jobs to care for her sick mother, and Nick (Connor Swindells), a down-on-his-luck former security consultant desperate to support his daughter after a divorce.
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025
  • Before Uncle Sam, other figures represented the young country, including Yankee Doodle, once a British insult aimed at American colonials, and Brother Jonathan, a sharp-witted embodiment of American common sense.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Mar. 2026
  • See You At The Finish Line follows Lucas, a sharp-witted, working-class rower, and George, an American golden-boy captain, whose uneasy alliance evolves into a tender but combustible love story against the backdrop of the famous boat race between Oxford and Cambridge universities.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
  • They’ll be joined by Downton Abbey‘s Julian Ovenden as the suave, sophisticated Dexter Haven, Carly Mercedes Dyer (Anything Goes) as the sharp-witted Liz, Nigel Lindsay (Mobland) as Uncle Willie, and Malcolm Sinclair (Pie in the Sky) as Seth Lord.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 8 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sharp-witted.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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