curt
adjective
rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner.
curt
1 American
[kurt]
/ kɜrt /
adjective
curter,
comparative
curtest
superlative
-
rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner.
-
brief; concise; terse; laconic.
-
short; shortened.
- Synonyms:
- abbreviated
Curt
2
American
[kurt]
/ kɜrt /
noun
curt
British
/ kɜːt /
adjective
-
rudely blunt and brief; abrupt
a curt reply
-
short or concise
Synonym Usage
See blunt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of curt
First recorded in 1620–30, curt is from the Latin word curtus “shortened, short, cut short”
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.
Vocabulary lists containing curt
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 7
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List 8
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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.
See Examples For:
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
Chalamet’s words were curt, but his opinion was only further muddled by the clip being spread out of context.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
Her curt weekly directive was to take one from the pile and stick it in wrapping paper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
The pair had a curt handshake after Townsend clinched victory before Latvian Ostapenko made a comment at the net.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2025
He had to be curt with her to forestall any more questions.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
Offensive assistant Frank Cignetti Jr. is the younger brother of Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, and new receiver coach Adam Henry was the co-offensive coordinator at Indiana in 2022 and helped recruit Cooper.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
Curt Meier, the current state treasurer, called gold a wise hedge against inflation and said he would push to bring the state’s allocation to an even higher percentage of its portfolio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Delgado-Aparicio and Regan led the project with guidance from Curt Bolton of FES.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026
His mother, Gloria James, supported him and advised James to listen to uncle Curt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
Curt replied: Red would look great on you.
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
"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 Hodgson, William Hope
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 Drummond, Hamilton
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 Kipling, Rudyard
And he became curter and curter, as he noticed the new deference which even Clara practised towards him.
From Clayhanger by Bennett, Arnold
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
I made some obligatory enquiries, in my capacity of host, but my unwelcome guest gave me only the curtest of replies.
From In Jeopardy by Sutphen, Van Tassel
They replied with the curtest of nods, and I attended them from the house.
From First Person Paramount by Pratt, Ambrose
She informed him of the bare fact in the curtest manner, without preface or apology or explanation.
From The Three Sisters by Sinclair, May
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.
