The Meaning of Concise: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of concise? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word concise, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word concise mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary and the American Heritage Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, the word concise is an adjective that means short and to the point. Concise is two syllables – con-cise, and the pronunciation of concise is kənˈsais. The suffixes ly and ness can be added to the end of the word concise to make the related word forms concisely adv. and conciseness n.

Many things can be concise, like a concise summary without unnecessary details or verbiage, concise and terse reply, a succinct statement of the problem, a concise joke of wit, a concise and effective expression, a concise message of brusqueness, a clear concise statement on Facebook or Twitter, a concise and terse prose style, a concise dictionary or original book, a concise style of a succinct narrative, and more.

Many different languages also contain words that mean concise. You may notice that many of these words look and sound alike. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that mean the same thing and look similar. These are often formed when words have the same root or language of origin. This list of translations of concise is provided by Word Sense, and you could find them in a Spanish dictionary, French electronic resource or German dictionary.

  •  German: kurz‎, prägnant‎, knapp‎, konzis‎, bündig‎, gedrängt‎ (figurative)
  •  Esperanto: konciza‎
  •  Dutch: beknopt‎ (fem.), bondig‎
  •  Hebrew: תמציתי‎, תמציתית‎
  •  Spanish: conciso‎, breve‎, sucinto‎
  •  Finnish: ytimekäs‎, lyhytsanainen‎
  •  Persian: مختصر‎ (mokhtasar)
  •  Turkish: mucez‎ (obsolescent), özlü‎
  •  Italian: conciso‎
  •  Catalan: concís‎
  •  Czech: stručný‎ (masc.)
  •  Scottish Gaelic: pongail‎
  •  Bulgarian: кратък‎, стегнат‎
  •  Danish: koncis‎
  •  Norwegian: konsis‎
  •  Portuguese: conciso‎, sucinto‎
  •  Afrikaans: beknopt‎
  •  Irish: achomair‎
  •  French: concis‎
  •  Arabic: وَجِيز‎
  •  Polish: zwięzły‎ (masc.), lakoniczny‎ (masc.)
  •  Russian: лаконичный‎ (masc.), краткий‎ (masc.)
  •  Swedish: koncis‎, kortfattad‎
  •  Georgian: მოკლე‎, შემოკლებული‎

Can you figure out what languages the following phrases are in? prägnant kortfattet krátko zgoščeno koncizno koncist อย่างกระชับ kısaca стегнат conciso stručný ale výstižný kodolīgi dengan ringkas bondig kortfattet concisamente výstižně संक्षिप्त sažet συνοπτικά con concisión sisutihedalt zbijen skerp omlynd glaustai koncentrēti glaustas koncentrēts موجز sucinto concis краткий stručný

توګه sucintamente concis кратко zhustene konsis zwięzły koncizan tömör ringkas gagnorður conciso 簡潔な krátky zgoščen koncizan koncis kodolīgs ringkas lagi padat bondig kortfattet saaklik konsis συνοπτικός και κατανοητός conciso sisutihe sažet tömören secara ringkas með gagnorðum hætti concisamente 簡潔に 간결하게

What is the origin of the word concise?

According to Your Dictionary, the word concise has been used since c16 and comes from the Late Latin concisus/Latin concīsus cut meaning “cut short”, from the past participle of concīdere/past participle of concidere, the Latin concidere meaning “cut to pieces” and from the Latin caedere. This form of caedere means “to cut, to strike down”. Concise is of Indo-European roots.

How can the word concise be used in a sentence?

The word concise can be used in many different sentences in the English language. Using words in a sentence is a great way to memorize their definitions, as is making flashcards or quizzes. Below are several examples of concise. 

Her concise, pithy one-liners became the brand of her excellent voice in comedy. A wordy statement just isn’t funny in all but individual cases.

The Sherman and Clayton acts are century-old, remarkably spare and concise statutes, which means that antitrust law has been made based on the precedents that have been laid down in these previous cases.

While the headers of the article were concise, the content sections were verbose, offering an intimate knowledge of offense terms in football. This was considered a gift to some, but made others aloof and bored.

There was a high degree of conciseness in the unabridged 7th edition of the 20th century dictionary from Princeton University that wasn’t seen in the unabridged 8th edition or fifth edition.

What are synonyms and antonyms of concise?

There are many different words that have the same meaning as the word concise. These are called synonyms. Synonyms are a great way to expand your vocabulary and avoid repeating yourself. This list of synonyms for the word concise is provided by Power Thesaurus

  •  quick
  •  lean
  •  neat
  •  concision
  •  summary
  •  curtailed
  •  summarized
  •  snappy
  •  terse
  •  significant
  •  curt
  •  marrowy
  •  the point
  •  apothegmatic
  •  laconic
  •  cut
  •  precision
  •  in few words
  •  tight
  •  shorter
  •  point
  •  curtate
  •  boiled down
  •  brevity
  •  compendiary
  •  succinct
  •  short
  •  decurtate
  •  aphoristic
  •  truncated
  •  low
  •  well structured
  •  taciturn
  •  cogent
  •  clear
  •  abrupt
  •  compressed
  •  direct
  •  pithy
  •  briefly
  •  abbreviated
  •  close
  •  pocket
  •  small
  •  pithiest
  •  gnomic
  •  explicit
  •  brusque
  •  epigrammatical
  •  brief
  •  economical
  •  concisely
  •  little
  •  blunt
  •  thumbnail
  •  compendious
  •  sharp
  •  abridged
  •  short and to the point
  •  laconical
  •  pointed
  •  breviloquent
  •  elliptic
  •  synoptic
  •  lapidary
  •  rigorous
  •  pithily
  •  short and sweet
  •  snappier
  •  incisive
  •  conciseness
  •  briefest
  •  condensed
  •  big
  •  sententious
  •  down to brass tacks
  •  compact
  •  accurate
  •  crisp
  •  succinctness
  •  in a nutshell
  •  tighter
  •  businesslike
  •  cut to the bone
  •  telegraphic
  •  capsule
  •  shortened
  •  tightest
  •  briefer
  •  careful
  •  elliptical
  •  shortest
  •  terseness
  •  trenchant
  •  meaningful
  •  contracted
  •  epigrammatic
  •  exact
  •  just
  •  clipped
  •  curtness

There are also many different words that have the opposite meaning of the word concise. These opposite words are called antonyms, which are another great way to expand your vocabulary. This list of antonyms is also provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  pleonastic
  •  talkative
  •  constitute
  •  long-drawn-out
  •  loquacious
  •  assemble
  •  rhetorical
  •  prolix
  •  circumlocutory
  •  amorphous
  •  amplified
  •  garrulous
  •  high
  •  life long
  •  convoluted
  •  enormous
  •  complete
  •  long
  •  tedious
  •  circuitous
  •  bewitch
  •  redundant
  •  confused
  •  construe
  •  off
  •  windy
  •  wordy
  •  digressive
  •  blow-by-blow
  •  de longue haleine
  •  serving no useful purpose
  •  superfluous detail
  • elaboration
  •  delayed
  •  chattery
  •  all jaw
  •  verbose
  •  detailed
  •  accompanying
  •  alter
  •  long-winded
  •  expanded
  •  alliterative
  •  discursive
  •  enlarged
  •  repetitious
  •  circumstantial
  •  diffuse
  •  rambling
  •  lengthy
  •  expansive
  •  contract

Overall, the word concise means short and to the point. This word is of Latin origin.

Sources:

  1. Concise synonyms – 478 Words and Phrases for Concise | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Concise antonyms – 130 Opposites of Concise | Power Thesaurus 
  3. concise: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense 
  4. Concise Meaning | Best 4 Definitions of Concise | Your Dictionary 
  5. Concise definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary