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 adverb
terseness noun
Choose the Right Synonym for terse

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 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 on the Web The Alaska Cocktail pops into existence in a terse little cocktail book from 1913 called Manual of Mixed Drinks, by Jacques Straub. Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 28 Sep. 2024 In the end, her terse last word on the show was in keeping with her public persona. Michelle Tauber, Peoplemag, 25 Sep. 2024 In a terse order, the court refused to overturn an earlier ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals. Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 9 Sep. 2024 Don Cheadle has a restrained elegance playing the sports coach as terse guru. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Sep. 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.

Word History

Etymology

Latin tersus clean, neat, from past participle of tergēre to wipe off

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of terse was in 1601

Dictionary Entries Near terse

Cite this Entry

“Terse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terse. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

terse

adjective
terser; tersest
: being brief and to the point : concise
a terse summary
also : curt, brusque
dismissed me with a terse "no"
tersely adverb
terseness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on terse

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