Definitions

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

  • adjective Characterized by clear, precise expression in few words; concise and terse.
  • adjective Archaic Encircled as if by a girdle; girded.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • 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.

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

  • adjective Girded or tucked up; bound; drawn tightly together.
  • adjective Compressed into a narrow compass; brief; concise.

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

  • adjective brief and to the point; having characteristics of both brevity and clarity.
  • adjective compressed into a tiny area.
  • adjective archaic wrapped by, or as if by a girdle; closely fitting, wound or wrapped or drawn up tightly.

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

  • adjective briefly giving the gist of something

Etymologies

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

[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.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin succinctus, perfect passive participle of succingō ("gird from below"), from sub + cingō ("gird, wrap, or surround").

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Examples

  • ROBERTS: The word succinct I don't think exists in his vocabulary.

    CNN Transcript Apr 27, 2007 2007

  • Jerm is the veteran MC who knows how to ride a beat in succinct or elongated fashion depending on what’s required.

    Helladope’s Grand Hello « PubliCola 2010

  • 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 2007

  • 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.

    Sadly, No! 2008

  • 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.

    Home Again, Home Again! Zombie Mom 2009

  • 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 2008

  • That's the kind of succinct, loopily brilliant imagery that peppers every Tom Waits song.

    Tom Waits Shows Head and Heart in Beautiful New York Show 1999

  • "clear", never "succinct" - his painful dictation methods representing the very antithesis of

    English-writing Israeli-bloggers melchettmike 2009

  • “Succinct but grumbly”–well, it’s not often I’m called succinct, but there’s another possible epitaph.

    “I leave you to imagine” « Attempting Elegance 2007

  • 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

    B&C - Advertising News 2010

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