incisive
adjective
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Incisive has meant "impressively direct and decisive" since around 1834 and derives from the Latin verb caedere, meaning "to cut." Its linguistic kin include many cuttings from the fruitful stem caedere, such as scissors, chisel, incise ("to cut into or engrave"), excise ("to remove by cutting"), incisor ("a front tooth typically adapted for cutting"), incision ("cut" or "gash"), precise ("minutely exact"), and concise ("brief"). Incisive also carries a couple of lesser-known literal meanings relating to cutting: "having a cutting edge or piercing point" (as in "incisive fangs"), and, in dentistry, "of, relating to, or situated near the incisors."
Examples of incisive in a Sentence
Liam Twomey, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025
The two actors’ incisive characterizations spark off each other with a constantly shifting energy — volatile and aggressive one minute, utterly defeated the next.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2025
Follow Harris for her incisive perspective on the dynamic, rapidly evolving spaces of entrepreneurship, wellness, and lifestyle innovation.
—Meggen Harris, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
This is incisive and great, getting at uninteresting people misappropriating culture and being lame ironists.
—Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 9 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for incisive
Cite this Entry
“Incisive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incisive. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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incisive
adjective
Medical Definition
incisive
adjective
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