terse
TURSadjMeaning brief, sometimes to the point of seeming rude
Memory hook TERSE: lips PURSED tight. Chef Omar keeps his lips pursed while he cooks and answers every question with one word: “Busy.” “Later.” “No.” His answers are terse.
The terse text, “K,” left Jamal wondering whether his sister was upset.
In context Grandma usually writes long, chatty letters, so her terse postcard, “Arrived. Raining. Love, G,” made the whole family laugh.
Similar brief, short, clipped, curt
Opposite wordy, chatty, expansive
From Latin tersus, “wiped clean, polished”: a terse sentence has every extra word wiped away.