Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

Thesaurus

terse

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of terse

marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
  • I could tell from his terse replies to my questions that he was in no mood to talk.
Synonyms of terse

brief, capsule, compact, compendious, concise, crisp, curt, elliptical (or elliptic), epigrammatic, laconic, monosyllabic, pithy, sententious, succinct, summary, thumbnail
Words Related to terse

abrupt, blunt, brusque (also brusk), short, snippety, snippy

abbreviated, abridged, condensed, curtailed, shortened

meaty, substantial

meaningful, significant

well-turned
Near Antonyms of terse

redundant, repetitious, tautological, tautologous

enlarged, expanded, supplemented

embellished, embroidered, exaggerated, inflated
Antonyms of terse

circuitous, circumlocutory, diffuse, long-winded, prolix, rambling, verbose, windy, wordy

Synonym Discussion of 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

Learn More about terse

  1. See words that rhyme with terse Dictionary: Definition of terse Spanish Central: Translation of terse Nglish: Translation of terse for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of terse for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up terse? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games