Merriam-Webster's Word Central

September 01, 2011

succinct (adjective): \suk-SINKT\
What does it mean?: : marked by short concise expression without wasted words
How do you use it?: "If you are going to complete your essay question in the time allowed," advised Mr. Palmer, "you must be succinct and get to the core of the answer quickly."
Are you a word wiz?: We'll get right to the point: which of the following sentences do you think uses the word "succinct" correctly?

A. Water was everywhere because of the hole in the basement succinct.

B. To make her novel more succinct, the author added another hundred pages.

C. Rajiv enjoys the succinct spices used at the new restaurant.

D. A proverb expresses a wise idea in a succinct manner.

Answer D cuts to the chase. Sentence A doesn't work because it uses "succinct" as a noun instead of an adjective. The author in B is padding her novel, and the result is likely to be a work that is "verbose" or "wordy" -- opposites of "succinct." Sentence C doesn't work either, since "succinct" is not used in connection with flavor and can't be used to describe spices. That leaves sentence D and those concise words of wisdom as a proper illustration of the word "succinct."