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:
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
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
My father sweeps ahead of me on the porch steps, grabs Ryan by the hand, and pulls him into the house with a curt “Link,” in our visitor’s direction.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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
“He decided to be extremely quiet and stay as far away from the Iran debacle as possible,” said Curt Mills, the executive director of the American Conservative Magazine, an anti-interventionist publication.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 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
She broke up with Curt a few weeks after that, and she signed on to WordPress, and her blog was born.
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 William Hope Hodgson
Frederick was younger than the other men too; but his manner was, if anything, curter.
From The Happy End by Joseph Hergesheimer
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
The woman’s voice was curter, and the uninviting muzzle of a bull-terrier was thrust out between the door and the woman’s skirts.
From Seven Miles to Arden by Ruth Sawyer
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
Men ceased speaking to him, or greeted him with the curtest of nods.
From The Rules of the Game by Stewart Edward White
"What have you been doing all this time?" old Jonas asked in his sharpest and curtest tone.
From The Bishop and the Boogerman by Joel Chandler Harris
The elevator man made her the curtest of inclinations, and proceeded to arrange matters with a rapidity which almost took her breath away.
From Hawtrey's Deputy by Cyrus Cuneo
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