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.

Flight attendants ordered an evacuation with a terse directive: Grab your passports and boarding passes, leave all luggage, get out.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 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

Loznitsa includes multiple terse scenes of Kornev walking up endless stairs or waiting for a perturbed guard to unlock a door that will lead him to another door that also requires a key.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Epstein mostly fires back terse, business-like, poorly punctuated replies - if any.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

The notes were flowery and effusive, except for Miss Goodacre’s, which, although correct, was terse to the point of rudeness.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

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