Terse

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /tɜːs/
• Canada IPA: /tɝːs/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Origin

From the year 1599, from French ters ("clean"), from Latin tersus ("cleansed; neat, spruce"), perfect passive participle of tergō ("I rub, wipe, cleanse").

Full definition of terse

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Polished, burnished; smooth; fine, neat, spruce.
2. (of speech or style) Brief, concise, to the point.
• 1907, James Wood (encyclopaedist), , title page:"A consise and comprehensive dictionary of general knowledge consisting of over 16,000 terse and original articles on nearly all subjects discussed in larger encyclopaedias,..."
• 2012, June 4, Lewis Smith, Queen's English Society says enuf is enough, innit?, Having attempted to identify a role for the society and its magazine, Quest, "for the next 40 years", the society chairman, Rhea Williams, decided it was time to close. She announced the group's demise in a terse message to members following the annual meeting, which just 22 people attended.
3. Abruptly or brusquely short.

Synonyms

• abrupt
• brusque
• concise
• curt
• succinct
• laconic

Antonyms

• verbose
• prolix

Derived terms

• tersely
• terseness

Anagrams

• ester, estre, reset, Reset, steer, stere, stree, trees