succinct

suc·cinct

adjective \(ˌ)sək-ˈsiŋ(k)t, sə-ˈsiŋ(k)t\

Definition of SUCCINCT

1

archaic

a : being girded

b : close-fitting

2

: marked by compact precise expression without wasted words <a succinct description>

— suc·cinct·ly \-ˈsiŋ(k)t-lē, -ˈsiŋ-klē\ adverb

— suc·cinct·ness \-ˈsiŋt-nəs, -ˈsiŋk-nəs\ noun

Examples of SUCCINCT

1. He gave a succinct overview of the expansion project.
2. <a pocket guide that provides succinct explanations for rules of grammar and punctuation>
3. Other experts are in the business of selling their research. Alan Greenspan made his reputation and career as a partner of Townsend-Greenspan, whose clients were a who's who of old Wall Street. Successful research firms can command substantial fees, and buyers demand clear, succinct and unequivocal analysis and predictions. —Zachary Karabell, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2009
4. As Esther Benbassa recounts in her dry but impressively succinct and informative history, they arrived in the Roman province of Gaul in the first centuries of the common era, and soon found themselves trod underfoot by the ascendant Christian church. —David A. Bell, New Republic, 28 Feb. 2000
5. In his first work of popular science, English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking proves himself to be a master of vivid clarity. His title, “ A Brief History of Time,” is understated even by British standards; in 198 pages Hawking manages no less than a succinct history of cosmology, a concise explanation of general relativity and its intersection with quantum mechanics … —Richard Rhodes, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 1988

Origin of SUCCINCT

Middle English, from Latin succinctus having one's clothes gathered up by a belt, tightly wrapped, concise, from sub- + cinctus, past participle of cingere to gird — more at cincture

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to SUCCINCT

Synonyms

aphoristic, apothegmatic, brief, capsule, compact, compendious, crisp, curt, elliptical (or elliptic), epigrammatic, laconic, monosyllabic, pithy, sententious, concise, summary, telegraphic, terse, thumbnail

Antonyms

circuitous, circumlocutory, diffuse, long-winded, prolix, rambling, verbose, windy, wordy

Related Words

abrupt, blunt, brusque (also brusk), short, snippety, snippy; abbreviated, abridged, condensed, curtailed, shortened; meaty, substantial; meaningful, significant; well-turned

Near Antonyms

pleonastic, redundant, repetitious, tautological, tautologous; enlarged, expanded, supplemented; embellished, embroidered, exaggerated, inflated

See Synonym Discussion at concise

Rhymes with SUCCINCT

extinct