What does "terse" mean?

Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point.

What is a synonym for "terse"?

Common synonyms include: abrupt, brusque, concise, curt, laconic, succinct.

Terse

//tɜːs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point. broadly
"In eight terse lines has Phædrus told / (So frugal were the Bards of old) / A Tale of Goats; and clos'd with grace / Plan, Moral, all, in that ſhort space."
2
Of manner or speech: abruptly or brusquely short; curt. broadly
"'Laura!' The voice halting her was terse. Brusque. She turned. [...] 'Before I go,' he said, and his voice was terse, tighter than ever. 'I want to ensure you understand something.'"
3
Burnished, polished; fine, smooth; neat, spruce. obsolete
"By Phœbus, here's a moſt neate fine ſtreete; is't not? I proteſt to thee, I am enamord of this ſtreete now, more then of halfe the ſtreetes of Rome, againe; tis ſo polite, and terſe; [...]"

Adjective

1
brief and to the point; effectively cut short wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

abrupt brusque concise curt laconic succinct

Antonyms

All antonyms

bombastic circumlocutory diffuse dreich

Example

More examples

"There is a fine line between speech that is terse and to the point and speech that is too abrupt."

Etymology

From Latin tersus (“clean, cleansed, rubbed or wiped off; neat, spruce; terse”), perfect passive participle of Latin tergeō, tergō (“to clean, cleanse, rub, wipe, wipe off”).

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