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laconic - 5 dictionary results
la⋅con⋅ic
[luh-kon-ik] 
ɪk
–adjective
| using few words; expressing much in few words; concise: a laconic reply. |
Related forms:
la⋅con⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Synonyms:
brief, pithy, terse; succinct.
brief, pithy, terse; succinct.
Antonyms:
voluble.
voluble.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To laconic
| la·con·ic (lə-kŏn'ĭk) adj. Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise. See Synonyms at silent. [Latin Lacōnicus, Spartan, from Greek Lakōnikos, from Lakōn, a Spartan (from the reputation of the Spartans for brevity of speech).] la·con'i·cal·ly adv. Word History: The study of the classics allows one to understand the history of the term laconic, which comes to us via Latin from Greek Lakōnikos. The English word is first recorded in 1583 with the sense "of or relating to Laconia or its inhabitants." Lakōnikos is derived from Lakōn, "a Laconian, a person from Lacedaemon," the name for the region of Greece of which Sparta was the capital. The Spartans, noted for being warlike and disciplined, were also known for the brevity of their speech, and it is this quality that English writers still denote by the use of the adjective laconic, which is first found in this sense in 1589. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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; brusque; epigrammatic. In this sense laconic is the usual form. 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. His sense was strong and his style laconic. --Welwood. 2. Laconian; characteristic of, or like, the Spartans; hence, stern or severe; cruel; unflinching. 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.Laconic
La*con"ic\, n. Laconism. [Obs.] --Addison.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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laconic
"concise, abrupt," 1589, from Gk. Lakonikos, from Lakon "person from Lakonia," the district around Sparta in southern Greece in ancient times, whose inhabitants were famous for their brevity of speech. When Philip of Macedon threatened them with, "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground," the Spartans' reply was, "If."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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