Meaning
Using as few words as possible - terse to the point of eloquence. Where taciturn reads as a character flaw, laconic reads as a discipline: the reply that lands precisely because it refuses to elaborate or explain itself. Complimentary - it suggests mastery, not moodiness; near-neighbours terse and pithy cover the style, but only laconic carries Sparta in it. Regional use: General English; classical origin.
Origin
From Lakonikos, Laconian - the region of Greece ruled from Sparta, whose citizens were famous for brevity. The anecdotes are the lexicon: the ephors answering Philip II of Macedon's threat with the single word If; the Spartans at Thermopylae inviting the Persians to come and take them; a dispatch after a naval disaster reduced to ships gone, Mindarus dead, the men starving. Plato put the ideal in the Protagoras: Spartans hid their wisdom and, like expert marksmen, shot in one brief remark to prove the listener a child. English adopted the word and quickly made it personal - Alexander Pope wrote to Swift in 1736, I grow laconick even beyond laconicism; for sometimes I return only yes, or no - and the 1738 life of Charles I praised a style both strong and laconic. Australian English adds the runner: laconic as laid-back.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- laconic humor
- laconic wit
- laconically
Usage Examples
- Asked for his view after the fire, the watchman gave a laconic 'arson' and walked back to his kettle.
- Her laconic replies - 'Fine.' 'Tuesday.' 'Bring boots.' - organized the whole expedition.
- The report was laconic to a fault: two pages, one map, no adjectives, and a recommendation.