Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Terse
Terse
,Adj.
[
Com
par.
Terser
; sup
erl.
Tersest
.] [L.
tersus
, p. p. of tergere
to rub or wipe off.] 1.
Appearing as if rubbed or wiped off; rubbed; smooth; polished.
[Obs.]
Many stones, . . . although
terse
and smooth, have not this power attractive. Sir T. Browne.
2.
Refined; accomplished; – said of persons.
[R. & Obs.]
“Your polite and terse gallants.” Massinger.
3.
Elegantly concise; free of superfluous words; polished to smoothness;
as,
. terse
language; a terse
styleTerse
, luminous, and dignified eloquence. Macaulay.
A poet, too, was there, whose verse
Was tender, musical, and
Was tender, musical, and
terse
. Longfellow.
Syn. – Neat; concise; compact.
Terse
, Concise
. Terse was defined by Johnson “cleanly written”, i. e., free from blemishes, neat or smooth. Its present sense is “free from excrescences,” and hence, compact, with smoothness, grace, or elegance, as in the following lones of Whitehead: -“In eight
(So frugal were the bards of old)
A tale of goats; and closed with grace,
Plan, moral, all, in that short space.”
It differs from concise in not implying, perhaps, quite as much condensation, but chiefly in the additional idea of “grace or elegance.”– terse
lines has Phaedrus told(So frugal were the bards of old)
A tale of goats; and closed with grace,
Plan, moral, all, in that short space.”
Terse′ly
, adv.
Terse′ness
, Noun.
Webster 1828 Edition
Terse
TERSE
,Adj.
Cleanly written; neat; elegant without pompousness; as terse language; a terse style.
Diffus'd,yet terse, poetical,though plain.
Definition 2024
terse
terse
See also: tersé
English
Adjective
terse (comparative terser, superlative tersest)
- (obsolete) Polished, burnished; smooth; fine, neat, spruce.
- (of speech or style) Brief, concise, to the point.
- 1907, Rev. James Wood, The Nuttall Encyclopaedia, 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?”, in the Guardian:
- 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.
- 1907, Rev. James Wood, The Nuttall Encyclopaedia, title page:
- Abruptly or brusquely short.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
of a concise style or speech
|
abruptly or brusquely short
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Verb
terse
- first-person singular present indicative of terser
- third-person singular present indicative of terser
- first-person singular present subjunctive of terser
- first-person singular present subjunctive of terser
- second-person singular imperative of terser