pithy
[pith-ee]
- brief, forceful, and meaningful in expression; full of vigor, substance, or meaning; terse; forcible: a pithy observation.
- of, like, or abounding in pith.
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Origin of pithy
Synonyms
See more synonyms for pithy on Thesaurus.com1. succinct, pointed, meaty, concise.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pithy
Contemporary Examples
I had the pleasure of hearing one—a short, pithy gem called “The Italian System”—at a reading in Trastevere last month.
Each work is a pithy marvel that captures the languorous excitement (and sometimes the radiant gloom) of a summer day to remember.
Mandery knows when to be pithy and when to go long, like in passages about the subtleties of memoranda.
She was always alert to what was going on, and her comments were pithy and to the point.
He defines Dynamic Inaction with one pithy aphorism: “When in doubt, mumble; when in trouble, delegate; when in charge, ponder.”
Historical Examples
The form of his judgment had to be pithy, striking, engraved within a ring.
Notes on Life and LettersJoseph Conrad
Hamlet saw that pithy old Polonius was a preposterous and orotund ass.
PipefulsChristopher Morley
I crystallized my ideas into pithy sentences which a child could have understood.
Love Among the ChickensP. G. Wodehouse
Immense was the applause that followed the short, pithy speech of the Bourgeois.
The Golden DogWilliam Kirby
I particularly enjoyed the pithy judgment in about five words on Comte.
More Letters of Charles DarwinCharles Darwin
pithy
- terse and full of meaning or substance
- of, resembling, or full of pith
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for pithy
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper