Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Rudely brief or abrupt, as in speech or manner: synonym: gruff.
  • adjective Terse or condensed.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Short; concise; compressed.
  • Short and dry; tartly abrupt; brusk.
  • A contraction of current: common in acct. curt., account current.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Characterized by excessive brevity; short; rudely concise.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Brief or terse, especially to the point of being rude.
  • adjective Short or concise

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective brief and to the point; effectively cut short
  • adjective marked by rude or peremptory shortness

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, short, brief, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin curtus; see sker- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Latin curtus ("shortened").

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Examples

  • He said little of himself, but as he went on in short, curt sentences the picture grew more distinct, and to Virginia the man became more and more prominent in it.

    Conjuror's House A Romance of the Free Forest Stewart Edward White 1909

  • He said little of himself, but as he went on in short, curt sentences the picture grew more distinct, and to Virginia the man became more and more prominent in it.

    The Call of the North Stewart Edward White 1909

  • Loder talked continuously, sometimes in short, curt sentences, sometimes with ironic touches of humor; he talked until

    The Masquerader Katherine Cecil Thurston 1893

  • He would speak a curt farewell and step out of the lives of the two.

    Harrigan Max Brand 1918

  • Another German "fashion", the way they go about things, could be described as curt, without hesitation, and always adequate.

    Colorado Headline News 2009

  • you know curt, that is the trouble reviewing stuff nobody does first.

    FRANKENSTEIN '69 by Ed Martin (Olympia 1969) 2005

  • Unless they actually meant to be 'curt' to someone, like actually being rude to customers ...

    merrickal Diary Entry merrickal 2005

  • "I mind well enough, I reckon," I said, kind of curt-like.

    Further Chronicles of Avonlea Lucy Maud 1920

  • "I mind well enough, I reckon," I said, kind of curt-like.

    Further Chronicles of Avonlea 1908

  • Ling Chu, his impassive Chinese servant, had observed those symptoms of perplexity before, but now there was something new in his master's demeanour -- a kind of curt irritation, an anxiety which in the Hunter of

    The Daffodil Mystery Edgar Wallace 1903

Comments

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  • MISS GIDDENS

    I mean - I've met the two maids, and the cook, and her husband, the gardener. But I was wondering if - if perhaps there was someone I hadn't met?

    MRS. GROSE

    (with a short, curt laugh, swiping a chair with her duster)

    Bless you, I wish there was! We could use another pair of hands around here!

    May 19, 2008

  • Polite, but cutting at the same time.

    July 19, 2009

  • In addition, curt means short in linear extent (length).

    June 3, 2012