incisive
English edit
Etymology edit
Late Middle English (in the sense “cutting, penetrating”), borrowed from Medieval Latin incīsīvus, from incīdō (“to cut in, cut through”) + -īvus (“-ive”, adjectival suffix). Compare Middle French incisif.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
incisive (comparative more incisive, superlative most incisive)
- Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)
- Quickly proceeding to judgment and forceful in expression. (of an action)
- An incisive producer, who expressed vehement disapproval with my pitch upon my first sentence.
- 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest[1]:
- She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.
- Synonyms: decisive, forthright
- Having the quality of incising, cutting, or penetrating, as with a sharp instrument.
- 1862–1863, Mary Ann Evans, Romola:
- An incisive, high voice.
- 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Second Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
- And her incisive smile accrediting / That treason of false witness in my blush.
- (anatomy, relational) Of or relating to the incisors.
- the incisive bones, the premaxillaries
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
quickly proceeding to judgment
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References edit
- “incisive”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “incisive”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
incisive
Noun edit
incisive f (plural incisives)
- incisor (tooth)
Further reading edit
- “incisive”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
incisive
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /in.kiːˈsiː.u̯e/, [ɪŋkiːˈs̠iːu̯ɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /in.t͡ʃiˈsi.ve/, [in̠ʲt͡ʃiˈs̬iːve]
Adjective edit
incīsīve