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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Laconic \La*con"ic\, n.
Laconism. [Obs.] --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
WordNet (r) 2.0
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
crisp, curt, terse
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