concise
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
Concise, succinct, terse all refer to speech or writing that uses few words to say much. Concise usually implies that unnecessary details or verbiage have been eliminated from a more wordy statement: a concise summary of the speech. Succinct, on the other hand, implies that the message is as originally composed and is expressed in as few words as possible: a succinct statement of the problem. Terse sometimes suggests brevity combined with wit or polish to produce particularly effective expression: a terse, almost aphoristic, style. It may also suggest brusqueness or curtness: a terse reply that was almost rude.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of concise
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin concīsus “cut short” (past participle of concīdere ), equivalent to con- con- + -cīd- (combining form of caedere “to cut”) + -tus past participle ending
Explanation
If something is concise, it's short and gets right to the point. A concise edition of your diary might be 50 pages of the most important entries. Concise comes from the Latin word concidere, which means "to cut down." When we use concise, we're talking about words that have been cut down. There are no concise trees, but there are concise works of political philosophy. A concise Italian-English dictionary, is shorter than an unabridged one. If you're good at quick explanations, you have a concise manner. A good synonym is succinct.
Vocabulary lists containing concise
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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List 2
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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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.
Mr. Henderson is a research fellow with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and editor of the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025
Concise and hilarious, it remains the perfect guide to having a conversation like the one L.A. is attempting to have with De León and his fellow back-room conspirators.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2022
Concise story even more succinct: Despite their 3-2 loss to the White Sox Monday, the M’s have been straight fire since their season looked most dire.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 5, 2022
Concise biography from the people at the Hubble Space Telescope.
From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016
Mr. Swinburne Ward in a letter to Colonel Playfair, quoted in Dr. Percival Wright's "Concise Natural History", thus describes the capture of one of these monsters off the Seychelles.
From Natural History in Anecdote Illustrating the nature, habits, manners and customs of animals, birds, fishes, reptiles, etc., etc., etc. by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
