laconic

adjective

la·​con·​ic lə-ˈkä-nik 

: using or involving the use of a minimum of words : concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious

laconically

lə-ˈkä-ni-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

We’ll keep it brief. Laconia was an ancient country in southern Greece. Its capital city was Sparta, and the Spartans were famous for their terseness of speech. Laconic comes to us by way of Latin from Greek Lakōnikos, meaning “native of Laconia.” In current use, laconic means “terse” or “concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious,” and thus recalls the Spartans’ taciturnity.

Synonyms

• aphoristic
• apothegmatic
• brief
• capsule
• compact
• compendious
• concise
• crisp
• curt
• elliptical
• elliptic
• epigrammatic
• monosyllabic
• pithy
• sententious
• succinct
• summary
• telegraphic
• terse
• thumbnail

Choose the Right Synonym for laconic

concise, terse, succinct, laconic, summary, pithy, compendious mean very brief in statement or expression.

concise suggests the removal of all that is superfluous or elaborative.

a concise description

terse implies pointed conciseness.

a terse reply

succinct implies the greatest possible compression.

a succinct letter of resignation

laconic implies brevity to the point of seeming rude, indifferent, or mysterious.

an aloof and laconic stranger

summary suggests the statement of main points with no elaboration or explanation.

a summary listing of the year's main events

pithy adds to succinct or terse the implication of richness of meaning or substance.

a comedy sharpened by pithy one-liners

compendious applies to what is at once full in scope and brief and concise in treatment.

a compendious dictionary

Examples of laconic in a Sentence

We would rather have a smiling, shape-shifting Democrat we don't trust than a frowning, laconic Republican we trust more. —Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 10 Oct. 1996

The closest anyone comes to announcing his destination is a laconic "Guess I'll head on in." —Richard Rhodes, The Inland Ground, 1991

… towards the father—laconic, authoritarian, remote, an immigrant who'd trained in Galicia to be a rabbi but worked in America in a hat factory—their feelings were more confused. —Philip Roth, Granta 24, Summer 1988

He had a reputation for being laconic.

the sportscaster's color commentary tends to be laconic but very much to the point

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet a reasonable case can be made that two essential manners in American prose—the laconic, tight-lipped style (Hemingway began as a newspaperman and sportswriter, too) and the loquacious high irony that A. J. Liebling passed on to Tom Wolfe—began in the baseball stories of the New York papers. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024

Consider Madame Web, the comic-book movie that starred Dakota Johnson as a laconic superhero and featured Sweeney in a supporting role. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin laconicus Spartan, from Greek lakōnikos; from the Spartan reputation for terseness of speech

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined above

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

laconic

adjective

la·​con·​ic lə-ˈkän-ik 

: using few words : terse

a laconic reply

laconically

-ˈkän-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb