laconic, laconically

The adjective laconic and the adverb laconically refer to a thing or an action that is brief or terse. Do not use laconic and laconically to mean “sad” and “sadly,” respectively.

  • Ali was a man of few words, but no one ever got lost following his laconic directions.
  • To the question “Why do you wish to study philosophy?” the student replied laconically, “Because.”

The adverb laconically is often replaced by the adverb dryly.

  • “You don’t have to tell me again,” she said dryly.

Search by related themes

Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.

Date modified: