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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During the hearing, Lutnick gave short and concise answers.—
Zach Halaschak,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
18 Feb. 2025
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Huo’s project is to portray these social relations and material disparities with crispness, therefore the image is sharp, and though expansive, also concise.—
Ritesh Mehta,
IndieWire,
17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The Kurdish people have had a complicated relationship with Erdogan, who courted them during his early years in power by granting them more rights and reversing restrictions on the use of their language, and worked on the brief peace process with the PKK.—
Eyad Kourdi,
CNN,
1 Mar. 2025
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The world in brief Expert claims Russia violating rights BANGUI, Central African Republic -- An independent investigator is claiming United Nations peacekeeping forces and Russian mercenaries are carrying out human rights violations in the Central African Republic.—
Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports,
arkansasonline.com,
1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
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 4 Mar. 2025.
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