Word.ws English Dictionary

succinct

Syllables: suc·cinctUK/səkˈsɪŋ(k)t//sə(k)ˈsɪŋ(k)t/

succinct adjective: encircled by, or as if by, a girdle; drawn up or wrapped tightly.

Adjective

succinct (comparative more succinct or (less common) succincter, superlative most succinct or (less common) succinctest)

  1. (archaic) Encircled by, or as if by, a girdle; drawn up or wrapped tightly.
    • Near-synonyms: bundled up, cinched, engirdled, girdled
    • The Tovvne is moſt beautified, by a vaſt Garden of the Kings, ſuccinct vvith a great tovvred mud-vvall, larger than the Circuit of the Citie.1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “Tyroan”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, page 115
    1. (archaic, broadly) Of some pupae: encircled by a thread of silk around the centre.
  2. (also, archaic, poetic) Of clothes: not loose; close-fitting, tight-fitting.
    • [W]ings he vvore / Of many a colourd plume ſprinkl'd vvith Gold, / His habit fit for ſpeed ſuccinct, and held / Before his decent ſteps a Silver vvand.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature...
    • Four Knaves in garbs ſuccinct, a truſty band, / Caps on their heads, and halberds in their hand; […]1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, canto III, page 140
  3. (figuratively) Compressed into a small area; compact.
    • Unlike general lossless data compression algorithms, succinct data structures retain the ability to use them in-place, without decompressing them first.
    • The admirable and inimitable feature of Man, ſupplied and adorned vvith the innumerable teſtimonies of a Deitie: inſomuch, that not vvithout great cauſe hee is ſtiled a little and ſuccinct vvorld vvithin himſelfe; in vvhom there is a perſpicuous knovvledge to diſtinguiſh good from euill, vvhich is...1635, Tho[mas] Heywood, “The Second Tractate: The Cherubim. Theologicall, Philosophicall, Poeticall, Historicall, Apothegmaticall, Hierogriphicall and Emblematicall Obseruations, Touching the Further...
  4. (figuratively) Of an action, etc.: lasting a short time; brief, curt.
    • Then ſuddenly, and vvith a ſuccinct bovv, bidding them all good bye, he took a haſty leave; […]1796, [Frances Burney], “How to Treat a Defamer”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume IV, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr....
    • With the rope round their neck, their destiny may be succinct!1837, Thomas Carlyle, “In the Salle de Manége”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book I (The Feast of Pikes), page 9
  5. (figuratively) Of speech or writing: brief and to the point; concise.
    • You should give clear, succinct information to the clients.
    • […] Apollo himſelfe loveth brevitie, and is in his oracles verie ſuccinct and pithy; […]1603, Plutarch, “Of Intemperate Speech or Garrulitie”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 203

Adverb

succinct (comparative more succinct, superlative most succinct)

  1. (obsolete) Synonym of succinctly (“briefly, concisely”).
    • Very largely haue I inueighed againſt this vice [gluttony] elſvvhere, vvherefore heere I vvill truſſe it vp more ſurcinct;^([sic – meaning succinct]) […]1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 76, verso
    Synonyms:
    succinctly

succinct meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

succinct in Tamil

றிவான, செறிக்கப்பெற்ற, சுருக்கமான, மணிச்சுருக்கமான

succinct in Urdu

succinct
اجمالی ijmālī

succinct in Malayalam

സംക്ഷേപമായ

succinct in Kannada

ಕೆಲವೇ ಮಾತುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿದ, ಸಂಗ್ರಹವಾದ, ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತ, ಸಂಕ್ಷೇಪವಾದ, ಬಿಗಿಯಾದ, ಸಾರವಾದ
More languagesFewer languages
succinct in Persian
مختصر و مفید moxtasar o mofid, موجز mujez

Examples of succinct in a sentence

  • Svvift to the hall they haſte; aſide they lay / Their garments, and ſuccinct, the victims [animals] ſlay.1726, Homer, “Book XVII”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume IV, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 116...
  • During this time, sister Ursula, to give her for the last time her conventual name, exchanged her stole, or loose upper garment, for the more succinct cloak and hood of a horseman.1831 June–November (date written), Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter V, in Tales of My Landlord, Fourth and Last...
  • Their poor bits of preciosities and heirlooms they have with them; made up in succinct bundles, stowed on ticketed baggage-wains: […]1858, Thomas Carlyle, “The Salzburgers”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume II, London: Chapman and...
  • To stay a square-rigged ship is an affair of knowledge and swift sight: and a man used to the succinct evolutions of a schooner will always tend to be too hasty with a brig.1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, “A Bad Bargain”, in The Wrecker, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, […], →OCLC, page 404:

All 11 example sentences with succinct

Synonyms of succinct

19 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of succinct

Forms of succinct

Adjective
comparativemore succinct
comparative uncommonsuccincter
superlativemost succinct
superlative uncommonsuccinctest
Adverb
comparativemore succinct
superlativemost succinct

Origin of succinct

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English succinte, succynt (“having one’s waist encircled with something, girdled; brief, concise, succinct”), borrowed from Old French succinct (modern French succinct), or directly from its etymon Latin succīnctus (“belted, girdled; enclosed or tightly wrapped; (figurative) concise, succinct; etc.”), the perfect passive participle of succingō (“to gather or tuck up with a belt, etc.”), from suc- (a variant of sub- (prefix meaning ‘under’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upó (“from below; up”)) + cingō (“to encircle, surround; to gird”) (further etymology uncertain). The adverb is derived from the adjective.

Words formed from succinct

Words that rhyme with succinct

Questions about succinct

What does succinct mean?
Succinct means encircled by, or as if by, a girdle; drawn up or wrapped tightly.
What is succinct in Tamil?
Succinct in Tamil is றிவான, செறிக்கப்பெற்ற, சுருக்கமான. See Succinct meaning in Tamil.
How do you use succinct in a sentence?
Svvift to the hall they haſte; aſide they lay / Their garments, and ſuccinct, the victims [animals] ſlay.
What part of speech is succinct?
Succinct can be an adjective or an adverb.
How do you pronounce succinct?
Succinct is pronounced /səkˈsɪŋ(k)t/ (UK).

Words near succinct in the dictionary

  1. succinated
  2. succinates
  3. succination
  4. succinations
  5. succinchlorimide
  6. succinct
  7. succincter
  8. succinctest
  9. succinctly
  10. succinctness
  11. succinctoria

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: succinct (page history and authors); succinct (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اجمالی (Urdu) (page history and authors); succinct (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); succinct (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “succinct.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/succinct. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.