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.
Don Bradman walking off for a duck, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh arm in arm, Stuart Broad denying Australia one last time.
From BBC • Aug. 3, 2025
Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose arm in arm.
From BBC • Aug. 1, 2023
Nothing especially flashy about the process, landing it in a shoebox ala Curtly Ambrose, but when the inducker came the opener was left wanting and lost his middle stump.
From The Guardian • Dec. 17, 2020
But somewhere along the way – historians will point you towards the retirements of the two Cs, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose a decade ago – intimidation was lost.
From The Guardian • Aug. 23, 2012
I say, “Look, I’m sorry—” Curtly, she says, “Next.”
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
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.
