incisive
adjective
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An incisive person doesn’t hem and haw—they get straight to the point. The original meaning of incisive, from around 1600, was "having a cutting edge or piercing point"; the modern meaning of "impressively direct and decisive" has been part of English since the mid-1800s. Incisive is a close relative of incisor, which refers to a front tooth typically adapted for cutting, so it's no surprise that incisive has a specific meaning in dentistry, describing that which is of, relating to, or situated near the incisors. Both incisive and incisor come from the Latin verb caedere, meaning "to cut." English is rich in cuttings from the fruitful stem of caedere: some examples to sink your teeth into are scissors, chisel, incise ("to cut into or engrave"), excise ("to remove by cutting"), incision ("cut" or "gash"), precise ("minutely exact"), and concise ("brief").
Examples of incisive in a Sentence
Eddie Small, New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2026
And against Mozambique, Iwobi kick-started the attacks for Nigeria’s first three goals with incisive through balls — in each case playing the pass before the assist.
—Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
And sometimes a single incisive perception will do.
—Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
For incisive and globally-minded poetry, argument, fiction, and essays from writers like Benjamin Moser, Aria Aber, and Soyonbo Borjgin—check out Equator.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Incisive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incisive. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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incisive
adjective
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incisive
adjective
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