Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Characterized by clear, precise expression in few words; concise and terse: a succinct reply; a succinct style.
- adj. Archaic Encircled as if by a girdle; girded.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Prawn up, or held up, by or as by a girdle or band; passed through the girdle, as a loose garment the folds of which are so retained; hence, unimpeded.
- Compressed into a small compass, especially into few words; characterized by verbal brevity; short; brief; concise; terse: as, a succinct account of the proceedings of the council.
- In entomology, girdled, as a lepidopterous pupa; having the character of those chrysalids which are supported by a silken thread around the middle. See cut b under Papilionidæ. Synonyms Condensed, Laconic, etc. See
concise .
Wiktionary
- adj. brief and to the point; having characteristics of both brevity and clarity.
- adj. compressed into a tiny area.
- adj. wrapped by, or as if by a girdle; closely fitting, wound or wrapped or drawn up tightly.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Girded or tucked up; bound; drawn tightly together.
- adj. Compressed into a narrow compass; brief; concise.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. briefly giving the gist of something
Etymologies
- Middle English succincte, girt, from Old French, from Latin succīnctus, past participle of succingere, to gird from below : sub-, sub- + cingere, to gird; see kenk- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“ROBERTS: The word succinct I don't think exists in his vocabulary.”
“Jerm is the veteran MC who knows how to ride a beat in succinct or elongated fashion depending on what’s required.”
“It’s rather a useless exercise to try to compare the poet memoirist’s distinct writing styles, but interesting to note how his or her prose is influenced by his or her poetic sensibilities: Orr and Ríos wrote their memoirs in succinct imagistic vignettes, Rekdal and Mora in episodic event-driven chapters, and Doty and Hoffman weave multiple intricate and reflective threads into their complex storytelling.”
Poet Memoirists : Rigoberto González : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation
“Hanson at every turn cheapened the past by turning it into a little America, complete with a ridiculous parody of al Qaeda and the USSR mixed together in generous portions, putting in the mouths of people who were so short on words we continue to call succinct speakers by their name grand speeches in favor of Truth, Justice, and the American Way.”
“Glad if anything I said helped, though I'm sorry for the 3,274 mile long comment... too tired to find the "succinct" setting on my brain.”
“Cindy Davis ticked off the hurdles that Biden had cleared: he had been "succinct" and had not been "condescending"; Palin, by contrast, struck Davis as "reckless" and "shallow.”
Tony Diaz: VP Debate: Three Decades of Experience vs Three Days of Cramming
“That's the kind of succinct, loopily brilliant imagery that peppers every Tom Waits song.”
“clear", never "succinct" - his painful dictation methods representing the very antithesis of”
““Succinct but grumbly”–well, it’s not often I’m called succinct, but there’s another possible epitaph.”
“O'Donnell says his show will attempt to offer a "succinct" summary on the day's events, and may even rip up the planned show to react to news that may get made on news programs earlier in the evening, an interview on”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘succinct’.
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List 15
compelling, clandestine, capacious, captivate, amicable, emulate, fetter, frugal, hackneyed, hiatus, inane, jubilant and 13 more...
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gists
words about central ideas and actions
gist, nub, sense, meat, core, essence, heart, crux, pith, marrow, kernel, quintessence and 35 more...
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Spellings
sandbox, hypocrisy, medicine, torture, succinct, Martyr, hypocrite =saying..., on-cue as if plan..., egregious, smitten by god, revel =Get great ..., disingenuous
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Ecology
apishamore, argonaut, latent, unbacked, dichotomy, noctilucent, assoil, animalcule, succinct, vespertine, crozzle, vermilion and 13 more...
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Personal Dictionary
Words I once didn't know...
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