epigrammatic

adjective

ep·​i·​gram·​mat·​ic ˌe-pə-grə-ˈma-tik 

1

: of, relating to, or resembling an epigram

2

: marked by or given to the use of epigrams

epigrammatically

ˌe-pə-grə-ˈma-ti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• aphoristic
• apothegmatic
• brief
• capsule
• compact
• compendious
• concise
• crisp
• curt
• elliptical
• elliptic
• laconic
• monosyllabic
• pithy
• sententious
• succinct
• summary
• telegraphic
• terse
• thumbnail

Examples of epigrammatic in a Sentence

Oscar Wilde's epigrammatic observation, “In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience”.

Recent Examples on the Web

Though its action is depicted crisply and clearly, its epigrammatic shots aim straight for the viewer’s unconscious, making only glancing contact with the rational mind. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024

Though its action is depicted crisply and clearly, its epigrammatic shots aim straight for the viewer’s unconscious, making only glancing contact with the rational mind. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024

Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell (1791) The best and most entertaining biography ever written in English — addictive for its prescient, informal, racy prose and Johnson's epigrammatic precision and enduring decency. —The Week Staff, The Week, 20 Mar. 2023

Dylan is helplessly epigrammatic. —Dwight Garner, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2022

There’s nothing wrong with epigrammatic rhetoric. —Jon Meacham, Town & Country, 30 Oct. 2022

In recent years, the magazine has published several short, often epigrammatic poems by Simic. —Hannah Aizenman, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2023

For the next 10 minutes or so, Godard, smoking his familiar cigar, meditates on this vexing, evergreen question with his characteristic intelligence, opacity and epigrammatic wit. —A.o. Scott, New York Times, 6 Dec. 2022

With the help of blankly matter-of-fact yet omniscient voice-over narration (spoken by Madeleine James), D’Ambrose achieves the span and the depth of a cinematic bildungsroman in shards of experience and epigrammatic flickers. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2022

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin epigrammaticus, from Latin epigrammat-, epigramma "inscription, epitaph, epigram" + -icus -ic entry 1

First Known Use

1694, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for epigrammatic

• adiabatic
• aristocratic
• asymptomatic
• axiomatic
• diagrammatic
• diaphragmatic
• electrostatic
• endolymphatic
• homeostatic
• idiomatic
• magnetostatic
• melodramatic

Kids Definition

epigrammatic

adjective

ep·​i·​gram·​mat·​ic ˌep-ə-grə-ˈmat-ik 

1

: of, relating to, or resembling an epigram

2

: marked by or given to the use of epigrams

epigrammatical

-ˈmat-i-kəl

adjective

epigrammatically

-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb