terse
Americanadjective
-
terser,
comparative
-
tersest
superlative
-
neatly or effectively concise; brief and pithy, as language.
- Synonyms:
- compendious, epigrammatic, brief, compact, succinct
adjective
-
neatly brief and concise
-
curt; abrupt
Synonym Usage
See concise.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of terse
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin tersus, past participle of tergēre “to rub off, wipe off, clean, polish”
Explanation
Terse means brief, or using very few words. If your teacher tells you to make your writing in your essay style terse and to the point, he's saying use as few words as you can and be simple and clear. A terse reply or command may seem rude or unfriendly—but the word terse itself doesn't mean unfriendly or rude. Synonyms are succinct or concise, though these words have a more positive tone. The adjective terse is from Latin tersus "clean, neat," from tergere "to rub off, wipe, polish." Polished language is neatly concise.
Vocabulary lists containing terse
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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.
See Examples For:
In reaction to the uproar in Burkina over the national team's treatment, match organiser Eurodata Sport issued a terse statement shared online by the AFA that it had "honoured its contractual commitments".
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The Supreme Court’s terse order agreed on both points.
From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2026
Last month, the Fed released a remarkably terse statement after its June meeting, and Warsh batted away questions from reporters on the outlook for interest rates.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
Wizened and creased, with a hoop the size of a quarter dangling in his left ear, he relies on gestures—shrugs, grimaces, guffaws—to flesh out responses that lean terse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
“That's it. We are a terse people. Terse, and also hungry.”
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
Not exactly a warm embrace of the new Warsh Fed: terser “just the facts” statements, shorter news conferences, no forward guidance, and a no-nonsense message that there’s a new sheriff in town.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, whom I asked separately, had a terser response: “I’m gonna leave that to the medics.”
From Slate ● May 16, 2023
Some of his friends noticed a change in his writing style — a change that one scholar later described as a departure from “sustained argument and prolonged reflection” to a terser “telegram style.”
From Washington Post ● Dec. 29, 2022
Sherman used a similar metaphor, but terser: “I feel like I’m starving.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2021
The problem of evil has never been stated in terser or more dramatic form.
From Mysticism in English Literature by Caroline F. E. Spurgeon
The tersest analysis of Christie’s entry in the race has come from Christie’s target, Trump.
From Slate ● Jun. 7, 2023
A man crying also furnishes the Bible with its shortest, tersest line: “Jesus wept.”
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 4, 2018
During a post-debate gaggle, the tersest Gillespie got was when a reporter tried to get clarity on whether he plans to invite Trump to the state.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2017
Mr. Tillerson is in many ways the personality opposite of Mr. Kerry: When asked a hard question he will offer the tersest answer possible, rather than attack with words.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2017
So it came about that all the old classical works were composed in the tersest of language, as remote as can be imagined from the speech of the people.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 2 "Chicago, University of" to "Chiton" by Various
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