From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishterseterse /tɜːs $ tɜːrs/ adjective RUDE/IMPOLITEa terse reply, message etc uses very few words and often shows that you are annoyed SYN abrupt Derek’s terse reply ended the conversation. —tersely adverb ‘Continue!’ he said tersely. —terseness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
terse• The terse announcement gave no reason for Harris's resignation.• For Teravainen, that one terse comment from Hill proved to be important in his professional education.• Far too often those in authority expect others to obey and so use formal and even terse language when penning memos.• Written in terse news style, seven of these faxes are in front of me right now.• Reading a terse or weighty document will inhibit, rather than encourage, word flow.• Ashley gave a terse silent laugh.• The White House issued a terse statement saying the President would not comment on the allegations.• "We're in the process of negotiations, " Russo said in a terse statement to reporters.• There was no official explanation for Mr Lane's sudden departure, which was announced in a terse two-line statement.• Dimly she heard Luke's terse voice as he spoke.Origin terse (1600-1700) Latin tersus “clean, neat”, from tergere “to wipe off” 