| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | brief, short |
| Synonyms: | abrupt, aphoristic, boiled down, breviloquent, brusque, clear-cut, clipped, close, compact, compendiary, compendious, concise, condensed, crisp, cryptic, curt, cut to the bone, elliptical, epigrammatic, exact, gnomic, in a nutshell, incisive, laconic, lean, neat, pithy, pointed, precise, sententious, short and sweet, snappy, succinct, summary, taut, to the point, trenchant |
| Notes: | use terse to characterize brevity or succinctness of expression in a person; concise is used to characterize this in a message |
| Antonyms: | lengthy, long-winded, prolix, wordy |
| Main Entry: | bluff |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | abrupt |
| Synonyms: | barefaced, bearish, blunt, blustering, breviloquent, brief, brusque, candid, crusty, curt, direct, downright, forthright, frank, gruff, hearty, honest, laconic, no-nonsense, open, outspoken, plain-spoken, rough, rude, short, short-spoken, sincere, snippety, snippy, straightforward, tactless, tart, terse, unceremonious |
| Main Entry: | brief |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | short, compressed |
| Synonyms: | abrupt, bluff, blunt, boiled down, breviloquent, brusque, compendiary, compendious, concise, crisp, curt, hasty, laconic, limited, little, pithy, sharp, short and sweet, skimpy, small, snippy, succinct, surly, terse, to the point |
| Antonyms: | lengthy, long |
| Main Entry: | brusque |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | curt, surly |
| Synonyms: | abrupt, bluff, blunt, brief, crusty, discourteous, gruff, hasty, impolite, sharp, short, snappy, snippy, tart, terse, unmannerly |
| Antonyms: | courteous, kind, polite, tactful |
| Main Entry: | compact |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | short, brief |
| Synonyms: | boiled down, compendious, concise, epigrammatic, in a nutshell, laconic, make a long story short, marrowy, meaty, pithy, pointed, short and sweet, succinct, terse, to the point |
| Notes: | a compact is a formal agreement on rights and conduct, a treaty is a compact between nations, and a contract is a compact between two business entities |
| Antonyms: | big, large, lengthy, long, unabridged |
| Main Entry: | concise |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | short, to the point |
| Synonyms: | abridged, boiled down, breviloquent, brief, compact, compendiary, compendious, compressed, condensed, curt, epigrammatic, in a nutshell, laconic, lean, marrowy, meaty, pithy, short and sweet, succinct, summary, synoptic, terse |
| Notes: | use terse to characterize brevity or succinctness of expression in a person; concise is used to characterize this in a message |
| Antonyms: | expansive, lengthy, long, long-winded, redundant, repetitive, wordy |
| Main Entry: | crisp |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | short, curt in presentation |
| Synonyms: | abrupt, biting, brief, brusque, clear, clear-cut, cutting, incisive, penetrating, piquing, pithy, provoking, stimulating, succinct, tart, terse |
| Antonyms: | lengthy, long |
| Main Entry: | curt |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | abrupt, rude |
| Synonyms: | blunt, breviloquent, brief, brusque, churlish, compendiary, compendious, concise, crusty, gruff, imperious, laconic, offhand, peremptory, pithy, sharp, short, short and sweet, snappish, snippety, snippy, succinct, summary, tart, terse, unceremonious, uncivil, ungracious |
| Antonyms: | ceremonious, civil, gracious, lengthy, polite |
| Main Entry: | incisive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sarcastic |
| Synonyms: | acerb, acerbic, acid, biting, caustic, clear-cut, concise, crisp, cutting, drilling, laconic, mordant, penetrating, sardonic, satirical, scathing, severe, sharp, slashing, succinct, tart, terse, trenchant |
| Antonyms: | gentle, kind, nice |