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The Idiot vocabulary
140 vocabulary words, including people, places, music, artists, etc.
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laconic
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synonyms: pithy, sententious, compendious ???
► definition
Definition:brusquely concise, curt; describes someone who is not talkative
► uses
Uses:
this laconic, clear, almost wordless communication of the most complex ideas.
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The visitors talked loudly and confidently, and moved with energy, in contrast to the weary, mumbling, laconic behavior of the men who had dropped out of the line to have their first warm meal in three days.
Irwin Shaw. The Young Lions, p.625 (1948)
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“Stealing, most like,” she said laconically, returning to the herb table. “Usually is, wi’ the tanners’ lads.”
Diana Gabaldon. Outlander (1991)
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he was just the same as then; only fonder of continued solitude, and perhaps still more laconic in company.
Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights (1847)
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then there is the tone laconic, or curt, which has lately come much into use. It consists in short sentences. Somehow thus: Can't be too brief. Can't be too snappish. Always a full stop. And never a paragraph.
Edgar Allan Poe. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 4: How to Write a Blackwood Article (1838)
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"He went to get a horse and cart," said Brogard, laconically, as with a surly gesture, he shook off from his arm that pretty hand which princes had been proud to kiss.
Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The Scarlet Pimpernel
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I was hostile and laconic throughout dinner.
J.D. Salinger. Nine Stories: De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period, p.137 (1948)
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But their father, though very laconic in his expressions of pleasure, was really glad to see them;
Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice (1813)
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I had heard many weird tales about him, and worshipped him from a distance. It took the saloon to bring us together. Even so, our acquaintance might have been no more than a hand-grip and a word— he was a laconic old fellow— had it not been for the drinking.
Jack London. John Barleycorn
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