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• curt
  curt

  adjective

  rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner.
• Curt
  Curt

  noun

  a male given name, form of Curtis.

curt

¹ American  

[kurt] / kɜrt /

adjective

• curter,
  comparative
• curtest
  superlative

1. rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner.

   Synonyms:

   sharp, snappish

2. brief; concise; terse; laconic.

3. short; shortened.

   Synonyms:

   abbreviated

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Curt ² American  

[kurt] / kɜrt /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Curtis.

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curt British  

/ kɜːt /

adjective

1. rudely blunt and brief; abrupt

   a curt reply

2. short or concise

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Synonym Usage

See blunt.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• curtness
  noun
• curtly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• curter
  comparative
• curtest
  superlative

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Etymology

Origin of curt

First recorded in 1620–30, curt is from the Latin word curtus “shortened, short, cut short”

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Explanation

I’m sorry to be curt, but let's get right to the point. You should use the adjective curt to describe a way of speaking that’s brief and blunt. Curt often just means "terse." In fact it comes from the Latin word curtus, which means “cut short, abridged.” But sometimes it has the added sense of being rudely short, like when you’re irritated that someone’s asking a foolish question so you give a brusque, curt response.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curt Curt curter curtest

Wall Street is still getting familiar with Warsh’s curt style and dislike of providing forward guidance.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 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

If time doesn’t allow for this, Fitzgerald says, it is often considered better to slip away than to appear rushed or insincere in a curt goodbye.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 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

Here and there, people acknowledged her presence with a curt nod; but they were busy, all of them at their daily work, and pleasantries were not part of their custom.

From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry

And a Black athlete empowered to stand for Black people is an athlete who should expect to be persecuted, like Curt Flood, whom Kaepernick mentioned.

From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2026

From 1979 to 1982, he was a member of the band Neon, which included Fisher and future Tears for Fears founders Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

Like Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, he cut his teeth in football’s smaller conferences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Curt Menefee again is the host, with analysts Tom Amoss and Richard Migliore, plus handicappers Jonathan Kinchen and Chris Fallica, with other contributors such as Charissa Thompson and Tom Rinaldi.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

She spent weeks calling Curt, waiting in front of his building until he came out, saying over and over how sorry she was, how much she wanted to work through things.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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 Rudyard Kipling

"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 William Hope Hodgson

For a moment Commines hesitated, annoyed by a tone curter and colder than his own, but after a glance at La Mothe's set face he motioned to the servant to go.

From The Justice of the King by Hamilton Drummond

Saxham's patients found him even curter and more brusque in manner than usual that evening, and the article for the Scientific Review made little way.

From The Dop Doctor by Richard Dehan

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

She shut herself within the walls of a cold and sullen reserve, never speaking unless spoken to, answering with the curtest of monosyllables.

From A Question of Marriage by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

Oblivious of feelings she was left alone to brood and mope; her meals were served apart as though she were infectious; and now she had received the curtest of summonses to make herself scarce forthwith.

From The Maid of Honour (Vol. 3 of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Lewis Wingfield

The curtest historical sweep from then to now, shows how far the world has come.

From A Midsummer Drive Through the Pyrenees by Edwin Asa Dix

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Related Words

• blunt
• brusque
• concise
• offhand
• pithy
• succinct
• terse

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