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Definition of terse
terser
;tersest
1 : using few words : devoid of superfluity a terse summary; also : short, brusque dismissed me with a terse “no”
2 : smoothly elegant : polished
tersely
adverbterseness
nounIndulge Your Inner Word Nerd
Examples of terse in a Sentence
Everything about him is tidy, from his terse wit to the flecks of gray hair that fall in precise iterations around the edges of his scalp. —Devin Gordon, Newsweek, 29 July 2002
… Johnston stays bolted to the wheelhouse floor, wrestling the helm and jotting down notes in the ship log. His entries are terse, bullet descriptions of the unending chaos outside. —Sebastian Junger, The Perfect Storm, 1997
This vicious cycle was captured succinctly in Gandhi's terse warning that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. —David McCabe, Commonweal, 11 Apr. 1997
She accepts the caller's terse expression of sympathy and duly expresses in return her appreciation for that unenviable bit of message-bearing. —John Barth, Harper's, January 1994
She gave me a few terse instructions and promptly left the room.
could tell from his terse replies to my questions that he was in no mood to talk
Recent Examples of terse from the Web
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There’s little sign of the site’s haunting history — just a small metal placard inscribed with a terse account of the uprising in 1973.
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After the body was discovered, the Defense Department issued a terse statement noting an investigation was underway.
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The Army has been closed mouthed about the incident, issuing a terse two-sentence reply to questions Friday.
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In a terse statement sent to reporters around 2 a.m. Beijing time, Anbang said only that Wu -- who had spent more than a decade transforming the company into a global juggernaut -- was no longer able to serve in his post because of personal reasons.
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DeGraffenreid gave a terse 10-minute opening to the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court jury of nine whites and three blacks that was seated Wednesday.
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In a terse statement, Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn announced Tuesday that Paul Comfort, who was brought in to run the transit agency in April 2015, has left his post.
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His wayward path was presented in terse blasts of punk-blues.
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A terse statement was posted late Wednesday night on the city’s website regarding his resignation.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'terse'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of terse
Latin tersus clean, neat, from past participle of tergēre to wipe off
Synonym Discussion of terse
TERSE Defined for English Language Learners
terse
playDefinition of terse for English Language Learners
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: brief and direct in a way that may seem rude or unfriendly
TERSE Defined for Kids
terse
playDefinition of terse for Students
terser
;tersest
: being brief and to the point a terse statement
tersely
adverbLearn More about terse
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See words that rhyme with terse Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for terse Spanish Central: Translation of terse Nglish: Translation of terse for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of terse for Arabic speakers
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