laconism means extreme brevity in expression. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “laconism” is a great word
LACONISM — [Noun] Extreme brevity or terseness in speech or expression. From Latin Laconia (the region of Sparta), from Ancient Greek Λακεδαίμων (Lakedaímōn, "the region surrounding Sparta"), as the Spartans were famed for their terse speech. Unlike verbosity, which drowns a thought in a superfluous cascade of words, or circumlocution, which avoids the point with a labyrinth of evasion, laconism pares language to its sharp, essential core. It is the clean snap of a sheathed sword, the unadorned geometry of a Doric column, or the stark, unambiguous finality of a tombstone inscription—a testament to the profound authority that resides in what is left unsaid.
noun
- Extreme brevity in expression.““Well, where have you been?” he said to her with offhand laconism.”
- A very or notably brief expression.“The hand of PROVIDENCE writes often by abbreviatures, hieroglyphicks or short characters, which, like the Laconism on the wall, are not to be made out but by a hint or key from that SPIRIT which indited them.”