Laconic

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Laconic \La*con"ic\, Laconical \La*con"ic*al\, a. [L. Laconicus
     Laconian, Gr. ??, fr. ?? a Laconian, Laced[ae]monian, or
     Spartan: cf. F. laconique.]
     1. Expressing much in few words, after the manner of the
        Laconians or Spartans; brief and pithy; concise; brusque;
        epigrammatic. In this sense laconic is the usual form.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              I grow laconic even beyond laconicism; for sometimes
              I return only yes, or no, to questionary or
              petitionary epistles of half a yard long. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His sense was strong and his style laconic.
                                                    --Welwood.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Laconian; characteristic of, or like, the Spartans; hence,
        stern or severe; cruel; unflinching.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His head had now felt the razor, his back the rod;
              all that laconical discipline pleased him well.
                                                    --Bp. Hall.
  
     Syn: Short; brief; concise; succinct; sententious; pointed;
          pithy.
  
     Usage: {Laconic}, {Concise}. Concise means without irrelevant
            or superfluous matter; it is the opposite of diffuse.
            Laconic means concise with the additional quality of
            pithiness, sometimes of brusqueness.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Laconic \La*con"ic\, n.
     Laconism. [Obs.] --Addison.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  laconic
       adj : brief and to the point; effectively cut short; "a crisp
             retort"; "a response so curt as to be almost rude";
             "the laconic reply; `yes'"; "short and terse and easy
             to understand" [syn: {crisp}, {curt}, {terse}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  55 Moby Thesaurus words for "laconic":
     Spartan, abbreviated, abridged, aposiopestic, brief, brusque,
     clipped, close, close-tongued, closemouthed, compact, compendious,
     compressed, concise, condensed, contracted, crisp, curt, cut,
     docked, dumb, economical of words, elliptic, epigrammatic, gnomic,
     indisposed to talk, mum, mute, pithy, pointed, pruned, quiet,
     reserved, sententious, short, short and sweet, shortened, silent,
     snug, sparing of words, speechless, succinct, summary, synopsized,
     taciturn, terse, tight, tight-lipped, to the point, tongue-tied,
     truncated, unloquacious, untalkative, word-bound, wordless