Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Precisely meaningful; forceful and brief.
- adjective Consisting of or resembling pith.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of the nature of or full of pith; containing or abounding with pith: as, a pithy stem; a pithy substance.
- Full of pith or force; forcible; containing much in a concentrated or dense form; of style, sententious: as, a pithy saying or expression.
- Given to the use of pithy or forcible expressions.
- Synonyms and Terse, laconic, concise, pointed, sententious.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Consisting wholly, or in part, of pith; abounding in pith
- adjective Having nervous energy; forceful; cogent.
- adjective (Zoöl.) a large, rough, furrowed, oblong gall, formed on blackberry canes by a small gallfly (
Diastrophus nebulosus ).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Concise andmeaningful . - adjective Of, like, or abounding in
pith .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective concise and full of meaning
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But I have to remember that, as addicting as it is to deal in pithy statements, editors seem to like things that are longer, and longer works require more effort.
Stretch 2007
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After all, men prefer to "blink," a term I picked up from Dell Global Marketing VP Andy Lark, who himself loves to blog in short, pithy sentences.
Who Gives A Tweet? Mommybloggers Do. - Jory Des Jardins - MediaBizBloggers 2009
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His blazing contempt for people is couched in pithy, derivative “wit” and helpful pointers on how they could and should be more like him.
There Is A God « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2007
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He excels in short, pithy work at the hard-science end of the spectrum.
Archive 2008-01-01 Tim Stretton 2008
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Comments seelight, i am so glad that you're taxonomizing your language peeves! and i agree with much of what you say, even if it means that i've now re-written this little comment some eight times or howevermany already. but i've got to respond to your post on pithy, which was not so, um, pithy. pithy is a great word, because it specifically means "a maximum of effect from a minimum of words."
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After all, men prefer to "blink," a term I picked up from Dell Global Marketing VP Andy Lark, who himself loves to blog in short, pithy sentences.
Who Gives A Tweet? Mommybloggers Do. - Jory Des Jardins - MediaBizBloggers 2008
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This pithy is word is gleaned from World Wide Words.
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He excels in short, pithy work at the hard-science end of the spectrum.
:Acquired Taste Tim Stretton 2008
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Now you can follow my adventures on and off the beach in short, pithy, bursts.
Archive 2008-05-01 2008
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Now you can follow my adventures on and off the beach in short, pithy, bursts.
seanahan commented on the word pithy
This is what pissy sounds like with a lisp.
March 3, 2007
oroboros commented on the word pithy
See lisp for more.
May 18, 2007
bilby commented on the word pithy
I use pithy in exactly the opposite sense of WordNet's definition. Pithy is practically devoid of meaning, in the way the pith of a fruit is devoid of flavour and usually not particularly edible.
March 22, 2009
plethora commented on the word pithy
I don't think I've ever heard it used like that, b.
March 22, 2009
sionnach commented on the word pithy
Oh that bilby. Alwayth tho full of pith and vinegar!
March 22, 2009
plethora commented on the word pithy
Ha!
March 22, 2009
dailyword commented on the word pithy
I had this word as a Word Of The Day once.
June 13, 2012