as in concise
marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
Oscar Wilde's epigrammatic observation, "In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience"
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Recent Examples of epigrammatic
Though its action is depicted crisply and clearly, its epigrammatic shots aim straight for the viewer’s unconscious, making only glancing contact with the rational mind.
—
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell (1791) The best and most entertaining biography ever written in English — addictive for its prescient, informal, racy prose and Johnson's epigrammatic precision and enduring decency.
—The Week Staff, The Week, 20 Mar. 2023
Dylan is helplessly epigrammatic.
—Dwight Garner, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2022
There’s nothing wrong with epigrammatic rhetoric.
—Jon Meacham, Town & Country, 30 Oct. 2022
In recent years, the magazine has published several short, often epigrammatic poems by Simic.
—Hannah Aizenman, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2023
For the next 10 minutes or so, Godard, smoking his familiar cigar, meditates on this vexing, evergreen question with his characteristic intelligence, opacity and epigrammatic wit.
—A.o. Scott, New York Times, 6 Dec. 2022
With the help of blankly matter-of-fact yet omniscient voice-over narration (spoken by Madeleine James), D’Ambrose achieves the span and the depth of a cinematic bildungsroman in shards of experience and epigrammatic flickers.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2022
Munro’s characters are drawn from the upper classes, and his prose is droll in the British way—wry and epigrammatic.
—The New Yorker, 28 June 2021
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell (1791) The best and most entertaining biography ever written in English — addictive for its prescient, informal, racy prose and Johnson's epigrammatic precision and enduring decency.
—The Week Staff, The Week, 20 Mar. 2023
Dylan is helplessly epigrammatic.
—Dwight Garner, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2022
There’s nothing wrong with epigrammatic rhetoric.
—Jon Meacham, Town & Country, 30 Oct. 2022
In recent years, the magazine has published several short, often epigrammatic poems by Simic.
—Hannah Aizenman, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2023
For the next 10 minutes or so, Godard, smoking his familiar cigar, meditates on this vexing, evergreen question with his characteristic intelligence, opacity and epigrammatic wit.
—A.o. Scott, New York Times, 6 Dec. 2022
With the help of blankly matter-of-fact yet omniscient voice-over narration (spoken by Madeleine James), D’Ambrose achieves the span and the depth of a cinematic bildungsroman in shards of experience and epigrammatic flickers.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2022
Munro’s characters are drawn from the upper classes, and his prose is droll in the British way—wry and epigrammatic.
—The New Yorker, 28 June 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for epigrammatic
Adjective
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This Side of the Island is a more concise and conceptual effort, compared to his last full-length, 2020’s The Loves of Your Life, which is a masterpiece of musical storytelling.—
Frank DiGiacomo,
Billboard,
10 Mar. 2025
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Keeping prices down Bartell, who is the president of Bartell Hotels and the chairman of the San Diego Tourism Marketing District, attributes the extended success of Humphreys to a concise plan.—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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As a result, his answers are brief and not all that stimulating.—
Kevin Kurz,
The Athletic,
14 Mar. 2025
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The brief hearing, which focused on thorny jurisdictional issues, drew hundreds of demonstrators to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan to denounce the Saturday arrest of Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who is married to an American citizen.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Organized labor wanted to institute procedural reforms to ensure that officers were given opportunities to correct bad behavior before being let go—no more summary firings.—
Marc J. Dunkelman,
TIME,
27 Feb. 2025
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Sure enough, the summary destruction of that lonely Russian tank became fodder for the Phoenix drone group’s social media team.—
David Axe,
Forbes,
16 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Epigrammatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/epigrammatic. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.
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