concision

American  

[kuhn-sizh-uhn] / kənˈsɪʒ ən /

noun

1. concise quality; brevity; terseness.

2. Archaic. a cutting up or off; mutilation.

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concision British  

/ kənˈsɪʒən /

noun

1. the quality of being concise; brevity; terseness

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Other Word Forms

• nonconcision
  noun

Etymology

Origin of concision

1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin concīsiōn- (stem of concīsiō ), equivalent to concīs ( us ) concise + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

The noun concision means briefness or brevity. If it's taken you only two minutes to describe all nine seasons of your favorite TV show, you've done it with concision. In the 1500s, concision meant "a cutting away" or "a mutilation," from the Latin concidere, "to cut off or cut to pieces." For some wordy writers, an editor's emphasis on concision (cutting out extra words) might feel as violent as that, but really it's simply a matter of becoming more concise, or short and to the point.

Example Sentences

Its orotund prose certainly differs from the lean muscularity of the Second Inaugural or the elegiac concision of the Gettysburg Address.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 7, 2025

This interview, based on that event, has been edited for clarity and concision.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2024

In part that’s because of their concision — he typically writes short lines and never too many — and in part because they build an almost impenetrably tight argument through structure and sound.

From New York Times • Jun. 23, 2023

These interviews have been lightly edited for clarity and concision.

From Seattle Times • May 4, 2023

The dialogue has the purity of tone, the clear-cut concision that belong to its Hellenic model.

From Studies in Literature and History by Miller, John O.