terse

adjective

ˈtərs 

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

Synonyms

• aphoristic
• apothegmatic
• brief
• capsule
• compact
• compendious
• concise
• crisp
• curt
• elliptical
• elliptic
• epigrammatic
• laconic
• monosyllabic
• pithy
• sententious
• succinct
• summary
• telegraphic
• thumbnail

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

Instead, Belichick offered a quip about his reputation for giving terse responses during news conferences with the Patriots. —Scott Thompson, Fox News, 11 Dec. 2024

The terse message did not elaborate on Baren’s departure and she was not mentioned in the rest of the letter. —Daniel I. Dorfman, Chicago Tribune, 11 Dec. 2024

Head coach Nick Nurse has been terse with reporters seeking clarity about Embiid’s status. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 29 Nov. 2024

After some terse catching-up pleasantries, Mike gets to the point. —Noel Murray, Vulture, 23 June 2024

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

Kids Definition

terse

adjective

ˈtərs 

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