as in acidic
very clear and direct
She provided an incisive analysis that changed my entire opinion on the issue.
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Recent Examples of incisive
Longtime fans came to expect Farrell, wine bottle in hand, bantering and sometimes raging between songs, but his perspective was almost always incisive and entertaining.
—
Tom Tapp, Deadline, 16 July 2025
Her wide-ranging symphony of essays on Black womanhood is a treat—incisive, intellectual, intimate, funny, and formally inventive.
—Gabrielle Bellot, Literary Hub, 24 June 2025
Despite having a two-goal lead, PSG didn’t let up and in the 24th minute, Les Parisiens had another goal after a trademark incisive passing move cut through the Real squad, leaving Achraf Hakimi the easiest of tasks to set up Ruiz for his second of the game.
—Ben Morse, CNN Money, 10 July 2025
That time has shaped how incisive her voice is as a tool that inspires social change.
—Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for incisive
Tom Tapp, Deadline, 16 July 2025
Her wide-ranging symphony of essays on Black womanhood is a treat—incisive, intellectual, intimate, funny, and formally inventive.
—Gabrielle Bellot, Literary Hub, 24 June 2025
Despite having a two-goal lead, PSG didn’t let up and in the 24th minute, Les Parisiens had another goal after a trademark incisive passing move cut through the Real squad, leaving Achraf Hakimi the easiest of tasks to set up Ruiz for his second of the game.
—Ben Morse, CNN Money, 10 July 2025
That time has shaped how incisive her voice is as a tool that inspires social change.
—Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for incisive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incisive
Adjective
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Water rich in hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide continues to percolate through the rock, creating a mildly acidic cocktail that eats at the walls.—
Jennifer Walker,
CNN Money,
18 Aug. 2025
-
For generations, smart cooks have used acidic tomatoes to help soften thick bean hulls.—
Sheri Castle,
Southern Living,
17 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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From lo-fi hip-hop to chamber pop, from acid funk to orchestral rock, the fingerprints remain.—
Philip Martin,
Arkansas Online,
15 June 2025
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The floors are done in chestnut-toned wood, with acid green carpets made from bamboo silk, while the VVIP suite has its own private sitting room.—
Samantha Conti,
Footwear News,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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Davidson seems to be channeling a new-age Jerry Lewis here, ironic since one of Murphy’s biggest successes was delivering a brilliant take on an early Lewis role in The Nutty Professor, but one playing eight different parts over two films was purely his own.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
4 Aug. 2025
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Cooper’s talk of making strides in the table is a bit ironic considering KC sits comfortably atop the NWSL standings.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
30 July 2025
Adjective
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Notifying a third party, such as a different government agency, of a change-of-address is not considered clear and concise notification for tax purposes.—
Virginia La Torre Jeker,
Forbes.com,
18 Aug. 2025
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Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere NO: In-N-Out’s popularity is built on high-quality ingredients, a concise menu, limited presence across the country and strong brand values — not the location of its headquarters or its CEO.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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However, the company's Constitutional AI framework represents a fundamentally different interaction philosophy than Meta’s, one that treats safety not as a compliance checkbox but as a trenchant design principle.—
Douglas B. Laney,
Forbes.com,
17 Aug. 2025
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Like his previous films, Jude’s 170-minute romp is loaded with trenchant political messages, sarcasm, bawdy humor and a heavy dose of Romanian fatalism.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The story is poignant because Wisner succumbed to severe bipolar disorder, leading to his suicide in 1965, at the age of 56.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
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After a string of forgettable pictures, the helmer delivers a heartening, charming and empowering romance that never loses focus on its heroine’s poignant predicament.—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
19 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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That movie was an acerbic portrait of a friendship gone sour, laced with barbed insults.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
6 Aug. 2025
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With further prompting and training, the model was able to come much closer to Rubin’s acerbic, anti-PC style.—
Andrew R. Chow,
Time,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Led by Gary Oldman’s flatulent and sardonic Jackson Lamb, the ‘slow horses’ of Slough House prove weirdly effective, often confounding MI5’s Second Desk Diana Taverner (Kristen Scott-Thomas) and, as of Season 4, its First Desk Claude Whelan (James Tallis).—
Antonia Blyth,
Deadline,
29 July 2025
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In Moderation, Elaine Castillo’s sardonic new novel, Girlie Delmundo, the daughter of Filipino immigrants, works as a content moderator at a major tech company.—
Sarah Rose Etter,
The Atlantic,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incisive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incisive. Accessed 24 Aug. 2025.
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