terse
adjective
neatly or effectively concise; brief and pithy, as language.
terser
-
comparativeof terse.comparative
The form of an adjective or adverb indicating a greater degree of a quality.
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.
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
I vaguely thought he'd been killed off but here he is again, leaner, terser and a damn sight colder because the arch-villain has taken his parka and it's -20 in the badlands of South Dakota.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2010
Still terser, but hardly less expressive, is Emerson's characterization of Lincoln as one who had been "permitted to do more for America than any other American man."
From The Every-day Life of Abraham Lincoln A Narrative And Descriptive Biography With Pen-Pictures And Personal Recollections By Those Who Knew Him by Francis F. (Francis Fisher) Browne
