Incisive
//ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv// adj
adj ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)
- 2 Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process); Accurate and sharply focused. (of an account)
- 3 Quickly proceeding to judgment and forceful in expression. (of an action)
"An incisive producer, who expressed vehement disapproval with my pitch upon my first sentence."
- 4 Having the quality of incising, cutting, or penetrating, as with a sharp instrument; trenchant.
"An incisive, high voice."
- 5 Of or relating to the incisors. relational
"the incisive bones, the premaxillaries"
Adjective
- 1 suitable for cutting or piercing wordnet
- 2 having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions wordnet
Example
More examples"Mary's incisive questioning made it impossible for Tom to get away with his lies."
Etymology
Late Middle English (in the sense “cutting, penetrating”), borrowed from Medieval Latin incīsīvus, from incīdō (“to cut in, cut through”) + -īvus (“-ive”, adjectival suffix). Compare Middle French incisif.
Related phrases
More for "incisive"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.