terseness
- noun
- /ˈtɜr.sə.nəs/
- Her writing is known for its terseness, which makes her arguments powerful and clear.
Examples
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His droll, scruffy mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the terseness of his chin was as white as the snow.
Blog text (10) -
How does this terseness affect your reading?
Fiction book (1999) -
The terseness of your email made it sound specific and time-related.
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"Or, to put this in a formulation that Reinhardt might have liked for its terseness
Academic text (2014) -
...the terseness of Kraft and the grim lines of Jim McDivitt.
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His grandfather's terseness notwithstanding, Wasden speaks for many when he describes Harrison as the quintessential Southern gentleman.
Academic text (1996) -
Dr. Le Page did not seem to be up to any of his tricks that day and went out of his way to meet with Jerry and tell him that he felt confident that he had gotten it right this time. Jerry could see, for the first time, in both Dr. Le Page's confidence and terseness, how much Dr. Le Page had been bothered by the failure of the first surgery; exasperated, even, and plotting, psyching up all along for a second chance.
Fiction book (2001) -
Torre believes that as society moves more toward a "just the facts, ma'am" terseness, it's going to be deadline-driven Associated Press reporters and the like who struggle to compete with programs that can put together a quick game recap based on just a batch of stats.
Blog text (11) -
You'd be amazed at the number of writers who happily assert their fealty to Hemingwayesque terseness and their vow never to let a modifier cross their keyboard.
Blog text (1) -
The terseness of his reply left everyone in the room surprised by its impact.
Synonyms
Using few words when speaking or writing
Using few words to say or write a lot
Direct, clear style in speech and writing that makes meaning easy
Saying something clearly with few words
The quality of expressing ideas clearly using few words
Using only a few words to say something important
To say or write something using very few words
A short time or using few words
A short way of writing that leaves out small words like telegrams
Antonyms
How Concise
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Terseness comes from terse, which goes back to the Latin words tersus ('clean') and tergere ('to wipe'). Think of it as 'cleaning' language by removing extra words, which is why terseness means saying much with few, clear words.