as in concise
marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
could tell from his terse replies to my questions that he was in no mood to talk
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of terse
Hooper is similarly dismissive of Quint, balking when Brody suggests hiring the experienced but terse and anti-environmentalist fisherman to help find the shark.
—
Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 26 June 2025
Stylistically, the book becomes a motley, contaminated thing, a mix of Crews’s many modes—chatty, terse, demotic, detached, priapic, noirish, gnomic.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
Trump also offered a terse response to Khamenei’s refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.
—Joseph Krauss, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025
In a terse order that offered no reasoning, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled 2-1 against Menendez.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for terse
Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 26 June 2025
Stylistically, the book becomes a motley, contaminated thing, a mix of Crews’s many modes—chatty, terse, demotic, detached, priapic, noirish, gnomic.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
Trump also offered a terse response to Khamenei’s refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.
—Joseph Krauss, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025
In a terse order that offered no reasoning, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled 2-1 against Menendez.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for terse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terse
Adjective
-
The Journal Sentinel aims to provide both in-depth investigative journalism and quick, concise news updates.—
Greg Borowski,
jsonline.com,
11 July 2025
-
Solution: The first step is to establish a concise cyber risk governance committee charter, a high-trust document that outlines the committee's responsibilities, authority, composition and decision-making boundaries.—
Phillimon Zongo,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
After earning a reputation as a tackling machine at Syracuse, Clark signed with the Cowboys and quickly saw some brief work with the first-team unit during minicamp while Wilson was sidelined.—
Nick Harris
July 11,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 July 2025
-
Consider what those two third graders learned in their brief hallway squabble.—
Russell Shaw,
The Atlantic,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
Human Rights Watch said M23’s efforts to consolidate control of Goma have involved possible war crimes, including the summary execution of civilians in February.—
Michela Wrong,
NBC news,
6 June 2025
-
Unlike traditional employee income, business income does not always come with summary tax forms like the W2 at the end of the year.—
Vlad Rusz,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Terse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terse. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share