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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

incisive en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/

Etymology

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.

Meanings

  1. Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)
  2. Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process) ▸ Accurate and sharply focused. (of an account)
  3. 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.
    • 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. 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
  4. Having the quality of incising, cutting, or penetrating, as with a sharp instrument; trenchant.
    • And her incisive smile accrediting / That treason of false witness in my blush. 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Second Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
    • An incisive, high voice. 1862–1863, Mary Ann Evans, Romola:
  5. (relational) Of or relating to the incisors.
    • the incisive bones, the premaxillaries

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
most incisive Degree=Sup lexicographic
more incisive Degree=Cmp lexicographic

Deriveds

unincisive · incisively · maxilloincisive · incisiveness · incisive bone · incisive fossa · nasoincisive · incisive canal · interincisive · incisivity

Synonyms

sharp · decisive · biting · forthright · acute · sarcastic

Translations (7)

ca incisiu (quickly proceeding to judgment) · fi suoraviivainen (quickly proceeding to judgment) · pl zdecydowany (quickly proceeding to judgment) · cmn 門齒的 /门齿的 (relating to the incisors) · bg проницателен (quickly proceeding to judgment) · es incisivo (quickly proceeding to judgment) · fr incisif (quickly proceeding to judgment)