incisive
adjective
Did you know?
An incisive person doesn’t hem and haw—they get straight to the point. The original meaning of incisive, from around 1600, was "having a cutting edge or piercing point"; the modern meaning of "impressively direct and decisive" has been part of English since the mid-1800s. Incisive is a close relative of incisor, which refers to a front tooth typically adapted for cutting, so it's no surprise that incisive has a specific meaning in dentistry, describing that which is of, relating to, or situated near the incisors. Both incisive and incisor come from the Latin verb caedere, meaning "to cut." English is rich in cuttings from the fruitful stem of caedere: some examples to sink your teeth into are scissors, chisel, incise ("to cut into or engrave"), excise ("to remove by cutting"), incision ("cut" or "gash"), precise ("minutely exact"), and concise ("brief").
Examples of incisive in a Sentence
David Close, CNN Money, 19 June 2026
Marjane was known for her wariness of interviews, and her ability to disarm with sharp wit and bittersweet humor could turn incisive.
—Literary Hub, 18 June 2026
Both were called out with incisive lobs during the event itself by comics like Chelsea Handler, Sheryl Underwood and Pete Davidson.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 13 June 2026
Launch an incisive counter-attack today.
—Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 13 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for incisive
Cite this Entry
“Incisive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incisive. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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incisive
adjective
Medical Definition
incisive
adjective
