Definition of PITHY

Examples of pithy in a Sentence

… Gore's prowess had been blurred by his performance in the Quayle debate and by his four preceding years in the Senate, where the prevailing style is indirect and woolly-swathed in layers of “my distinguished colleague” and short on zingers and pithy remarks. —James Fallows, Atlantic, July 2000
I read my poems in L.A., chatted up the literary set, waxed pithy and beleaguered at the book signings and wine and cheese receptions. —Thomas Lynch, The Undertaking, 1997
He does not hold forth to his family or to his court of old men; he listens, … then delivers short, pithy edicts that are then followed. —Guy Martin, Esquire, June 1997
Unlike a great many other science books, the pithy, lyrical text never bogs down in a mudflat of facts. —Leonard S. Marcus, Parenting, December/January 1996
The critic gave the film a pithy review.
The book is filled with pithy sayings about love and loss.
a pithy little Mother's Day card

Recent Examples of pithy from the Web

That will be more valuable than whatever pithy message the Democratic leadership puts together.

— graham vyse, New Republic, "Democrats Don’t Need a “Core Message” in 2018," 19 July 2017
While the origins of the story are unclear, the pithy phrase is often re-upped today as a reminder of the perils that exist if clothing brands go political.

— jena mcgregor, Washington Post, "Reebok’s trolling tweet is the most prominent example of a Trump ‘news-jacking’ yet," 17 July 2017
DuClaw in Baltimore, Elysian in Washington, Magic Hat in Vermont and 21st Amendment in California are some of the breweries that have made beers with blood orange, which yields a bitterness from its pithy flavors.

— marc bona, cleveland.com, "Thirsty Dog Brewing releasing 12 Dogs of Christmas, plus debuting IPA," 27 June 2017
At a time when so many celebrities use social media to burnish their reputations with airbrushed photos and pithy captions, Perry is blazing a trail by ditching her script — at least for a weekend.

— time staff, Time, "The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet," 26 June 2017
Guillen’s pithy guitar solos elicited appreciative cheers, but the band’s real strength lies in its superior original songs.

— bill brownlee, kansascity.com, "Beer, food and music abound at the opening night of Boulevardia.," 17 June 2017
Until the past few years, conservative politicians could invoke the idea that government shouldn’t pick winners or losers as a pithy defense of the status quo.

— eric roston, Bloomberg.com, "Generals Warn That U.S. Security Is at Stake In Race for New Energy Superiority," 7 June 2017
Yogi Berra was famous for uttering pithy, off-the-cuff malapropisms, little witticisms that were seemingly contradictory, but also somehow wise.

— Longreads, "A Heart That Watches and Receives," 6 June 2017
In the following spread, the authors provide the answer key along with a pithy yet illuminating discussion of each item.

— catherine hong, New York Times, "In These New Activity Books for Kids, Staying Within the Lines Is Decidedly Optional," 2 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pithy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of pithy

see ¹pith

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1529

See Words from the same year

pithy Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of pithy

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

Other Botany Terms

annual, burgeon, chloroplast, nomenclature, succulent, sylvan, xylem

pithy