"The game's afoot" is Holmes's laconic call to action.
Source: tatoeba (2040174)
Laconic
/ləˈkɒnɪk/
Synonyms for "laconic" (94 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (19)
Noun(1 words)
academic conciseness
Verb(1 words)
Strong matches (28)
compendiouscompressedconcisecondensedcontractedcrispcurtcutdockeddumbeconomical of wordsellipticellipticalepigrammaticfleetinggnomicindisposed to talk
Noun(3 words)
Related words (47)
Noun(2 words)
lapidarymost unembellished
Adjective(13 words)
linguistic concisenessmonosyllabicpithierreticentspartanspartan designsuccinctsuccinctertelegraphicterse proseterse wordingtersertersest
mummutepithypointedprunedquietreservedsententiousshortshort and sweetshortenedsilentsnugsparing of wordsspartanspeechlesssuccinctsummarysynopsizedtaciturn
Show 12 more words
tersetighttight lippedtight-lippedto the pointtongue tiedtongue-tiedtruncatedunloquaciousuntalkativeword-boundwordless
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: curt, terse, abbreviated, abridged, academic conciseness.
- Sentence evidence is available for laconic, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "laconic".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "laconic"
Keep "laconic" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "laconic" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "laconic", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "laconic" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
4 entriesMore specific
6 entriesLaconian brevityLaconian dictionSpartan brevityconcise descriptionsuccinct proseterse phrasing
Collocations
6 entrieslaconic abstractlaconic answerlaconic descriptionlaconic notelaconic proselaconic reply
Inflections
2 entriesmore laconicmost laconic
Derivations
2 entriessimilar
1 entriesTranslations
52 translations across 36 languages.
Arabic
1 entries- وجيز adj (using as few words as possible)
Belarusian
1 entries- лаканічны adj (using as few words as possible)
Bulgarian
1 entries- лаконичен adj (using as few words as possible)
Catalan
1 entries- lacònic adj (using as few words as possible)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 簡潔 /简洁 adj (using as few words as possible)
Czech
1 entries- lakonický adj (using as few words as possible)
Danish
2 entries- kortfattet adj (using as few words as possible)
- lakonisk adj (using as few words as possible)
Dutch
1 entries- laconiek adj (using as few words as possible)
Estonian
1 entries- lakooniline adj (using as few words as possible)
Finnish
3 entries- lakoninen adj (using as few words as possible)
- lyhytsanainen adj (using as few words as possible)
- niukkasanainen adj (using as few words as possible)
French
1 entries- laconique adj (using as few words as possible)
German
2 entries- lakonisch adj (using as few words as possible)
- wortkarg adj (using as few words as possible)
Greek
1 entries- λακωνικός adj (using as few words as possible)
Haitian Creole
1 entries- lakonik adj (using as few words as possible)
Hebrew
1 entries- לקוני adj (using as few words as possible)
Hungarian
3 entries- lakonikus adj (using as few words as possible)
- szófukar adj (using as few words as possible)
- szűkszavú adj (using as few words as possible)
Irish
1 entries- gearr-abartha adj (using as few words as possible)
Italian
1 entries- laconico adj (using as few words as possible)
Japanese
1 entries- 簡潔 adj (using as few words as possible)
Macedonian
1 entries- ла́конски adj (using as few words as possible)
Malay
1 entries- ringkas adj (using as few words as possible)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- lakonisk adj (using as few words as possible)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- lakonisk adj (using as few words as possible)
Ottoman Turkish
1 entries- وجیز adj (using as few words as possible)
Polish
1 entries- lakoniczny adj (using as few words as possible)
Portuguese
2 entries- lacónico adj (using as few words as possible)
- lacônico adj (using as few words as possible)
Romanian
1 entries- laconic adj (using as few words as possible)
Russian
2 entries- лакони́чный adj (using as few words as possible)
- немногосло́вный adj (using as few words as possible)
Serbo-Croatian
2 entries- lakòničan adj (using as few words as possible)
- làkōnskī adj (using as few words as possible)
Spanish
1 entries- lacónico adj (using as few words as possible)
Swedish
1 entries- lakonisk adj (using as few words as possible)
Thai
4 entries- กระชับ adj (using as few words as possible)
- กะทัดรัด adj (using as few words as possible)
- รวบรัด adj (using as few words as possible)
- สั้น adj (using as few words as possible)
Tibetan
3 entries- ཁ་ཉུང adj (using as few words as possible)
- ཚིག་ཉུང་དོན་བསྡུས་པ adj (using as few words as possible)
- ཚིག་ཉུང་དོན་ཚང adj (using as few words as possible)
Turkish
1 entries- veciz adj (using as few words as possible)
Ukrainian
1 entries- лаконічний adj (using as few words as possible)
Welsh
2 entries- byreiriog adj (using as few words as possible)
- laconig adj (using as few words as possible)
Sample sentences
11 total sentences available.
The economist is not laconic.
Source: tatoeba (3226382)
Tom has a laconic sense of humour.
Source: tatoeba (3533664)
His answer was laconic.
Source: tatoeba (9962783)
Showing 4 of 11 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "laconic"?
Closest matches include curt, terse, abbreviated, abridged, academic conciseness.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "laconic"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.