curt

"Immediately, it was as if we were wasting this doctor's time and he was quite curt with Meg," Helen said.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

A few unnecessarily curt speech interruptions threatened the calm, but mainly, this was a smoothly run machine of a show, devoid of mishaps.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026

When asked directly whether the administration has a social media problem during Tuesday’s press briefing, Leavitt’s answer was a curt “No.”

From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2026

Her curt weekly directive was to take one from the pile and stick it in wrapping paper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

The chief gave a curt nod, and, with one swipe of her spear, Thandiwe cut my bonds.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Karim gave a curt reply in Russian, which the soldier returned with an even curter retort.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Maybe the possessive form of address: "Mon general," "mon capitaine," helps the idea, which our men cloke in other and curter phrases.

From France at War On the Frontier of Civilization by Kipling, Rudyard

"See here, Mr. Jarnock," I said, perhaps rather curter than I should have done, considering what I had to say.

From Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by Hodgson, William Hope

It is true they must have resorted, not unfrequently, to curter forms, much after the fashion of the now almost forgotten nick forms of the Plantagenet days.

From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Bardsley, Charles W.

Frederick was younger than the other men too; but his manner was, if anything, curter.

From The Happy End by Hergesheimer, Joseph

Luis Enrique thought for a couple of seconds, looked straight back at the questioner, and gave the curtest of replies.

From Fox News ● Jul. 5, 2021

He came from behind a sea of maps to grant the curtest interview I have ever had.

From Time Magazine Archive

The following dates show that I was kept waiting six weeks before being finally favoured with the curtest of refusals: Application made on September 13th, and sent on.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 14 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

When Mercedes had met Alvarado early in the morning she had acknowledged his profound salutation with the curtest and coldest of nods.

From Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer A Romance of the Spanish Main by Crawford, Will

The rest waited a few yards away, and the man with the dark eyes greeted Eshelby, who responded with the curtest inclination, courteously.

From Delilah of the Snows by Bindloss, Harold