Adjacent Words

Curt definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CURT, a. [L.] Short. [Rarely used, and not elegant.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by rude or peremptory shortness; "try to cultivate a less brusque manner"; "a curt reply"; "the salesgirl was very short with him" [syn: brusque, brusk, curt, short]
2: 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, laconic, terse]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin curtus mutilated, curtailed — more at shear Date: 1630 1. a. sparing of words ; terse <wrote curt precise sentences> b. marked by rude or peremptory shortness ; brusque <a curt refusal> 2. shortened in linear dimension Synonyms: see bluff • curtly adverb • curtness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. noticeably or rudely brief. Derivatives: curtly adv. curtness n. Etymology: L curtus cut short, abridged

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Curt Curt (k[u^]rt), a. [L. curtus; cf. Skr. kart to cut. Cf. Curtail.] Characterized by excessive brevity; short; rudely concise; as, curt limits; a curt answer. The curt, yet comprehensive reply. --W. Irving.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone as curt, you mean that they speak or reply in a brief and rather rude way. Her tone of voice was curt... 'The matter is closed,' was the curt reply. = abrupt, brusque ADJ • curtly 'I'm leaving,' she said curtly. ADV: ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Short, brief, concise, terse, laconic. 2. Short and dry, crusty, snappish, short and rude, tart.

Moby Thesaurus

Spartan, abbreviated, abridged, abrupt, aggressive, aposiopestic, bearish, beastly, bluff, blunt, brash, brief, brusque, cavalier, churlish, clipped, close, close-tongued, closemouthed, compact, compendious, compressed, concise, condensed, contracted, crisp, crusty, curtal, curtate, cut, decurtate, docked, dumb, economical of words, elliptic, epigrammatic, gnomic, gruff, harsh, imperious, indisposed to talk, instantaneous, laconic, little, low, mum, mute, peremptory, pithy, pointed, pruned, quiet, reserved, rough, rude, sententious, severe, sharp, short, short and sweet, shortened, silent, snappish, snippety, snippy, snug, sparing of words, speechless, succinct, summary, surly, synopsized, synoptic, taciturn, terse, tight, tight-lipped, to the point, tongue-tied, transient, truculent, truncated, unceremonious, unloquacious, untalkative, word-bound, wordless