terse

[turs] / tɜrs /

ADJECTIVE

brief, short

Synonyms

STRONGEST

brusque concise cryptic curt elliptical incisive laconic pithy precise succinct trenchant

WEAK

abrupt aphoristic boiled down breviloquent clear-cut clipped close compact compendiary compendious condensed crisp cut to the bone epigrammatic exact gnomic in a nutshell lean neat pointed sententious short and sweet snappy summary taut to the point

Antonyms

STRONGEST

gentle kind lengthy long-winded nice polite verbose wordy

WEAK

prolix

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.

Kay’s appeal was rejected in November 2023 in a terse four-page ruling by a federal court.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

This is a fitting characterization of any of these terse, disturbing novels.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

Designer Rob Janoff said that Apple cofounder Steve Jobs gave him one terse instruction when he commissioned a new logo in January 1977: "don't make it cute".

From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026

Later that day, Merz’s office issued a terse statement saying Israel had notified it of the strikes shortly before they happened.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

She finished her terse orders and then went on, “Joe, I wonder if you’ve been attending to business. I’ve been sick. But I’m well again or very nearly well.”

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Vocabulary lists containing terse

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