Linda Smith is survived by her partner Warren Lakin
The writer and broadcaster was a staple of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and BBC Radio, whose listeners voted her "Wittiest Person" in 2002.
She made frequent appearances on Just A Minute and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, as well as the TV shows Have I Got News For You, Room 101 and Mock the Week.
Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer said her passing was "a terrible loss".
Comedian Jeremy Hardy pays tribute
"Linda was a Radio 4 giant," he added. "She generated an energy and warmth in every programme she ever did that made her fellow comedians and millions of listeners love her."
News Quiz regular Jeremy Hardy paid an emotional tribute, calling her "the wittiest and brightest person working on TV or radio panel games".
Her many TV credits include Have I Got News For You
"Even when she was very ill, she had her friends laughing and feeling uplifted despite our sadness.
"I am so lucky to have had such a wonderful friend."
Ms Smith, who is survived by her partner Warren Lakin, died on Monday.
Mr Hardy told Radio 4 she had been ill for some time from ovarian cancer.
A special tribute edition of the News Quiz will be broadcast on Friday at 1830 GMT, presented by her fellow panellist Andy Hamilton.
It was reported by the ''BBC News'' service that Linda Smith, regular panelist on BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz, stand up comedian, satirist and writer, passed away from chronic ovarian cancer on Monday, February 27, 2006.  Ms. Smith died age 48 and is survived by her partner, Warren Lakin.

Ms. Smith gained fame from her many roles on BBC television and radio.  During her career she built strong friendships with a number of colleagues.  Amongst these is her colleague and friend Jeremy Hardy who responded to the news of her passing saying, "She was our greatest living Englishwoman. She reminds me of Alan Bennett in that wonderful Yorkshire terminology, the exactitude."  Mr. Hardy has written a full tribute to Ms. Smith for the BBC website.

A tribute edition of The News Quiz, presented by her fellow panelist Andy Hamilton, will be aired on Friday, March 3, 2006 on BBC Radio 4 at 6:30 p.m. (GMT), repeated the following Saturday at 12:30 - after this the show will be available for one week using BBC's Listen Again service.