incisive

CEFRC1

/ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Showing clear thought and sharp understanding.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Quickly proceeding to judgment and forceful in expression. (of an action)

Examples

  • Mary's incisive questioning made it impossible for Tom to get away with his lies.

  • Your incisive criticism will deflate a lot of egos.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)

  2. Accurate and sharply focused. (of an account)

  3. Having the quality of incising, cutting, or penetrating, as with a sharp instrument; trenchant.

More examples

In context

  • Thank you for the incisive analysis.

  • An incisive producer, who expressed vehement disapproval with my pitch upon my first sentence.

  • the incisive bones, the premaxillaries

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The journalist asked an blank question that quickly revealed the politician's hidden plan.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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.