curtly
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of curtly
Explanation
When you say something in the shortest, most direct way, you do it curtly. People who speak curtly tend to use as few words as possible. Respond curtly to someone and you risk coming across as a bit rude, like when your sister asks for a bite of the brownie you're eating, and you curtly answer, "Nope." Or when a restaurant patron snaps at the server, curtly demanding a water refill. This adverb describes actions that are brief and to the point, and often brusque or abrupt. Curtly is derived from a root that means "to cut."
Vocabulary lists containing curtly
Night
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The City of Ember
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Out of My Mind
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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.
“I trust my authors,” Frick says curtly when asked broadly about nailing down truth in memoir.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
He curtly dismisses 2005’s strong “A Bigger Bang” and 2016’s “Blue & Lonesome,” a back-to-basics album of blues covers, as “adequate endeavors that signaled a band living on borrowed time.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
I realised the man was the minister for health, Dr Thet Khaing Win, and approached him for an interview but he curtly rejected my request.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2025
Asked in Shelbyville how he’s doing, McConnell replied curtly: “I’m great. How are you?”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
“I haven’t got time to argue,” said Harry curtly.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
