terse
Americanadjective
-
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:
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
In rare cases, their votes are revealed in terse indications that they grant or deny the application, or even more rarely, as an opinion.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
US President Donald Trump on one occasion held a terse phone call with Netanyahu, in which he reportedly uttered an expletive.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Instead of consulting, DHS sent a single terse email to the State Department, which did not even cover the topic of a country’s safety and instead asked about any general “foreign policy concerns.”
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Judge Fielding’s announcement to the gathered court was terse.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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
His answers to questions have become terser, his mood darker.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 20, 2017
In any case, as Mrs. Newberry retired to a continuation of her gossip with Holt, broken only by the terser remarks of Newberry, Muriel bent a little closer to Stainton.
From Running Sands by Kauffman, Reginald Wright
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
In his address of acceptance, then, Governor Cox stepped to the fore with the tersest of utterances as to his position on the League, compressing it all into "I favor going in."
From The Progressive Democracy of James M. Cox by Morris, Charles E.
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.
