incisive
Americanadjective
adjective
-
keen, penetrating, or acute
-
biting or sarcastic; mordant
an incisive remark
-
having a sharp cutting edge
incisive teeth
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of incisive
From the Medieval Latin word incīsīvus, dating back to 1520–30. See incise, -ive
Explanation
The adjective incisive describes something that is sharp, decisive, and direct. A comment that cuts right to the bone can be just as incisive as an actual knife. The word incisive is rooted in a Latin word that literally means "to cut with a sharp edge." To help you remember the meaning, you can think of the similar word, incisors, which are the teeth that are sharp and cut and tear. The more figurative meaning of describing something that is mentally sharp first appeared in the 1850s. Keen criticism and cutting remarks have been called incisive ever since.
Vocabulary lists containing incisive
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, 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.
Yet this week Sloan will release her latest album as a singer-songwriter — and it’s pretty great, with knowing, incisive tunes about her marriage and about the record business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
This is in many ways a critic’s book: incisive, often brilliant, but somehow at a remove from itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
He posits that all the various forms of our modern alienation are connected, drawing throughlines that are both preposterous and incisive as he shows his work.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
It "pulls off an incredible double feat: it succeeds as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel," said Brown.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
Those of you who are fellow office workers and find yourselves reading this incisive journal during a coffee break or such might take note of one or two of my innovations.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
