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
Meg Zukin, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2025
For leadership strategists these narrative elements serve as an incisive commentary on the hidden costs of siloed thinking.
—Benjamin Laker, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025
Comments John Malkovich, in a very John Malkovich role, plays a twisted pop star in Opus, A24’s incisive horror film about the cult of toxic fandom.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2025
In short, readers can expect to visit The New Yorker every day and find new incisive, thoughtful writing from our diverse collection of thinkers and critics.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Incisive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incisive. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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incisive
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incisive
adjective
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