Laconic

//ləˈkɒnɪk// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Communicative through the use of as few words as possible.

    "Near-synonym: brief"

  2. 2
    Of or relating to ancient Laconia in Greece.
  3. 3
    Communicating through the use of as few words as possible.

    "Near-synonyms: taciturn, untalkative, terse, quiet, spartan"

  4. 4
    Laidback; casual; not intense. Australia, proscribed, sometimes

    "A key player up the other end of the ground is Harris Andrews, who sometimes gets unfairly criticised for his laconic playing style. He desperately cares for this team."

Adjective
  1. 1
    brief and to the point; effectively cut short wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
conciseterseabbreviatedabridgedaphoristicaposiopestic

Example

More examples

""The game's afoot" is Holmes's laconic call to action."

Etymology

From Latin Lacōnicus (“Spartan”), from Ancient Greek Λακωνικός (Lakōnikós, “Laconian”). Laconia was the region inhabited and ruled by the Spartans, who were known for their brevity in speech.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.