Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The quality or state of being brief in duration.
- n. Concise expression; terseness.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Shortness; especially, surprising or excessive curtailment of the thing spoken of: as, the brevity of human life. Specifically
- n. Shortness in speech or writing; conciseness; condensation into few words.
- n. Synonyms Compression, terseness, pithiness, succinctness, condensation, sententiousness, curtness.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable The quality of being brief in duration.
- n. uncountable Succinctness; conciseness.
- n. rare, countable A short piece of writing.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Shortness of duration; briefness of time.
- n. Contraction into few words; conciseness.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the use of brief expressions
- n. the attribute of being brief or fleeting
Etymologies
- First attested in English in 1509; either: (Wiktionary)
- Latin brevitās, from brevis, short; see brief. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This brevity is also in the service of the story, the ever shrinking life of the protagonist and this in turn accomplishes a feat which wouldn't otherwise be possible in another mode of fiction.”
MIND MELD: Memorable Short Stories to Add to Your Reading List (Part 1 of 2)
“(link) A literary lesson in brevity from the kids, eh?”
“The wedding invitation, once the model of a certain kind of brevity, is now often a mere component of a thick dossier with multiple stamps.”
“In fact, maybe you should read some Shakespeare and learn that brevity is the soul of wit.”
“The father knows there is gold in brevity and wit.”
“I think brevity is sadly overrated in the blogging world.”
“The sting of brevity is made much softer by the brilliant inclusion of a fully-operational level editor.”
“Another short post, but brevity is the soul of wit.”
“If brevity is the soul of wit, then you are a master.”
“Similarly, don't give lengthy descriptions in Parts 2-5, where brevity is requested.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘brevity’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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EN - eloquence in public speaking
Key words from "The Training of a Public Speaker" by Grenville Kleiser (New York and London, 1920)
beget, imago, approbation, orator, peroration, Cicero, eloquence, elocution, rhetoric, premeditate, plead, Isocrates and 264 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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"Brave New World"
From the book "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, which I purchased by accident.
brevity, florid, callow, sibilant, boskage, apopletic, asceptic, setentious, decant, predestine, viviparous, proliferate and 7 more...
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06-13 GRE list
churlish, unswear, abnegate, abjure, state, indemnification, adumbrated, reny, abash, recondite, rescission, esoteric and 258 more...
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GRE
abase, broach, brocade, burgeon, bungle, bureaucracy, burly, burnished, browbeat, brusque, bucolic, buffoonery and 21 more...
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favored
visceral, twinkle, whalebone, incandescent, carousel, entangle, brevity, desolate, twirl, deltoid, graceless, tryst and 94 more...
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What Do You Mean ?
U Gotta Know These.......
falter, ruddy, flounder, pallid, fumble, founder, labile, titular, tacit, pragmatic, fatalism, jaded and 112 more...
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fifi
verbs Adj Adv noun
indulge, convene, solve, dissolve, prospect, prospective, allege, resolve, accountable, administration, amid, agenda and 407 more...
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GRE AWA
escalating, vehement, vehemence, hostility, paparazzi, regime, irrespective, scoop, exaggerated, overblown, unfetter, scrupulous and 272 more...
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practice 2
100 words
momentous, domicile, adroit, ingenious, dexterous, genius, brevity, decorum, propriety, dignity, err, blunder and 91 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for brevity.
shalaco Let me explain something to you. Um, I am not "Mr. Lebowski". You're Mr. Lebowski. I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing. Jul 18, 2010
mikepurvis ... is the soul of wit. Dec 17, 2006