Lesson 1. Using Few Words or Being Quiet (brevity, concise, laconic, pithy, quiescent, reticent, succinct, taciturn, terse)

Succinct (a)

clearly and briefly stated; concise

Reticent (a)

not talking much; reversed

Quiescent (a)

quiet; still; inactive (Did you notice that the word quiet is within quiescent? Another SAT-level word, acquiesce (means "to peaceably agree or quietly give in to), is related to quiescent.)

Taciturn (a)

silent; sparing of words; closed-mouthed (In Latin tacitus means silent. Tacit means implied or expressed without words, as in a "tacit agreement")

Concise (a)

using few words in speaking or writing

Laconic (a)

using few words in speech

Terse (a)

using only the words that are needed to make the point; very concise, sometimes to the point of rudeness.

Pithy (a)

brief and full of meaning and substance; concise (Think of just the pit (central part) of the topic and nothing more. Remember that pithy expressions are substantial and to the point)

Brevity (n)

briefness or conciseness in speech or writing (Connect this word to a related word that you most likely already know: abbreviate. Notice how both words share the letter cluster brev-)