terser; tersest
1
: using few words : devoid of superfluity
a terse summary
2
: smoothly elegant : polished
tersely
adverb
terseness
noun
Synonyms
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
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 on the Web
When asked what makes Lyles so difficult to race against, Knighton was terse.
—Sean Gregory / Paris, TIME, 30 July 2024
The deal that stirred national outrage and took the death penalty off of the table has been revoked by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III in a terse memo.
—Stepheny Price, Fox News, 3 Aug. 2024
Viewers noticed a terse greeting between the two following Collins' decision to retire and both players addressed the exchange while speaking to press after the match.
—Natasha Dye, Peoplemag, 31 July 2024
This past weekend, lunar scientists began organizing in a last-ditch attempt to sway Congress, circulating an unusually terse open letter calling on Congress to refuse to authorize VIPER’s cancellation.
—Michael Greshko, Scientific American, 24 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for terse 
Sean Gregory / Paris, TIME, 30 July 2024
The deal that stirred national outrage and took the death penalty off of the table has been revoked by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III in a terse memo.
—Stepheny Price, Fox News, 3 Aug. 2024
Viewers noticed a terse greeting between the two following Collins' decision to retire and both players addressed the exchange while speaking to press after the match.
—Natasha Dye, Peoplemag, 31 July 2024
This past weekend, lunar scientists began organizing in a last-ditch attempt to sway Congress, circulating an unusually terse open letter calling on Congress to refuse to authorize VIPER’s cancellation.
—Michael Greshko, Scientific American, 24 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for terse
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'terse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near terse
Cite this Entry
“Terse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terse. Accessed 13 Sep. 2024.
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