terse
/tɜːs/adjective
terse is spelled T-E-R-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, terse means “Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in terse?
| Letters | 5: T-E-R-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,187th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is terse?
Terse appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce terse?
- UK /tɜːs/
- British /təːs/
- /tɛɾs/
Terse has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-terse.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with terse
Sounds like: terce (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with terse?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as terse from its last stressed vowel (/ɜs/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: reset, steer, ester, teres, stere, estre.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of terse
- terser comparative
- tersest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does terse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point.
- 2
Of manner or speech: abruptly or brusquely short; curt.
- 3
obsoleteBurnished, polished; fine, smooth; neat, spruce.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Terse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | laconique , lapidaire |
| German | knapp, markig, prägnant , kurz angebunden, wortkarg |
| Portuguese | conciso , breve, curto, direto, lacónico, resumido |
| Spanish | conciso, lacónico, parco, escueto, sucinto, terso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does terse come from?
From Latin tersus (“clean, cleansed, rubbed or wiped off; neat, spruce; terse”), perfect passive participle of Latin tergeō, tergō (“to clean, cleanse, rub, wipe, wipe off”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).