terseness

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The terseness is the message: Beijing no longer feels obliged to pretend it is weighing the costs.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

“Hesitant about what? I guess I’m frightened now that I realize how truly cowardly most people are,” singer-lyricist Oldham replies with a certain terseness.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2021

Exercising the latter can run the gamut from polite but telling terseness, to slow responses that telegraph the conversation is not going anywhere, to not saying anything at all when contacted.

From Slate • Nov. 16, 2020

Writing like this, dense and layered, is the opposite of traditional English terseness and understatement.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 5, 2018

One Sunday, two weeks after the occupation, Aureliano entered Gerineldo Márquez’s house and with his usual terseness asked for a mug of coffee without sugar.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez