witworm

One who, or that which, feeds on wit (possibly destroying it).

Noun

  1. One who, or that which, feeds on wit (possibly destroying it).
    • What hast thou done With thy poor innocent self […]Thus to come forth, so suddenly, a wit-worm? - 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, (please specify...
    • Sentimental misses long for poetry— dandies crave the latest fashions— politicasters fatten on battles and revolutions— witworms want anecdotes— censors snap at editorial paragraphs— gossips devour scandal— merchants...
    • "By the flesh-hook of Satan!" cried I, "thou are as merry a witworm as ever waged war against dumpishness. […] - 1827, Hilary Quality, edited by D. Wyseman, The Quality Papers, page 158:

Origin

From wit + worm.

Forms

witworms