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.
She curtly replied that she would not comment on an ongoing investigation and left the room.
From BBC • May 25, 2026
So they were surprised when the staff curtly shot down their request without any explanation.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2025
When Ms. Ford asked her curtly, “Who do you think you are, Cleopatra?”
From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2024
Reid curtly batted away continued questions about the 20-17 defeat, where a rare offside penalty on wide receiver Kadarius Toney negated what would have been the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2023
When Gong demanded a feed dog—a crucial part of a sewing machine that controls stitch size by regulating the speed of fabric moving to the needle—from a seamstress who worked with Shin, she curtly refused.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
