- 1簡潔扼要的（話少但講得清楚，是稱讚）。注意跟「簡短」不同：短而不清楚不算 succinct；中文說「言簡意賅」最接近。
Succinct means said in few words and said clearly — and the clearly part is essential. Short and confusing is not succinct, it is just short. Short and complete is succinct. That is why the word is a compliment: it says you managed to keep everything that mattered while cutting everything that did not.
It describes writing and speech, not people, most of the time: a succinct summary, a succinct reply, a succinct explanation. You can say "she was succinct", meaning she spoke that way in that moment, but it is not a description of her personality the way "quiet" is.
One useful contrast: *brief* only tells you the length. A brief answer might be brief because the person could not be bothered. *Succinct* tells you the length was an achievement. So "a brief email" is neutral, "a succinct email" is praise. Its close relatives *concise* and ** mean much the same; *concise* is the safest everyday choice, and *succinct* sounds slightly more polished, common in business and academic English.
The pronunciation surprises people: two clear k sounds, "suk-SINKT", not "su-sint".
組成From Latin succingere "to gather up and tie with a belt" — sub- "underneath" + cingere "to gird, to encircle". A Roman about to work or fight would belt up his long robe so it stopped flapping around his legs. Succinct writing is language with its robe belted up: nothing loose, nothing dragging.
同家族的字
- precinctsame cingere "to encircle" — an area with a boundary drawn round it
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
succinctadj/səkˈsɪŋ(k)t/
- 1
archaicEncircled by, or as if by, a girdle; drawn up or wrapped tightly.
- Near-synonyms: bundled up, cinched, engirdled, girdled
- The Tovvne is moſt beautified, by a vaſt Garden of the Kings, ſuccinct vvith a great tovvred mud-vvall, larger than the Circuit of the Citie.
- 2
archaicbiologyentomologynatural-sciencesEncircled by, or as if by, a girdle; drawn up or wrapped tightly.
- 3
archaicOf clothes: not loose; close-fitting, tight-fitting.
- [W]ings he vvore / Of many a colourd plume ſprinkl'd vvith Gold, / His habit fit for ſpeed ſuccinct, and held / Before his decent ſteps a Silver vvand.
- Four Knaves in garbs ſuccinct, a truſty band, / Caps on their heads, and halberds in their hand; […]
- 4
Compressed into a small area; compact.
- Unlike general lossless data compression algorithms, succinct data structures retain the ability to use them in-place, without decompressing them first.
- The admirable and inimitable feature of Man, ſupplied and adorned vvith the innumerable teſtimonies of a Deitie: inſomuch, that not vvithout great cauſe hee is ſtiled a little and ſuccinct vvorld vvithin himſelfe; in vvhom there is a perſpicuous knovvledge to diſtinguiſh good from euill, vvhich is the rule by vvhich to direct all the neceſſarie actions of humane life: […]
- 5
Of an action, etc.: lasting a short time; brief, curt.
- Then ſuddenly, and vvith a ſuccinct bovv, bidding them all good bye, he took a haſty leave; […]
- With the rope round their neck, their destiny may be succinct!
- 6
Of speech or writing: brief and to the point; concise.
- You should give clear, succinct information to the clients.
- […] Apollo himſelfe loveth brevitie, and is in his oracles verie ſuccinct and pithy; […]
succinctadv/səkˈsɪŋ(k)t/
- 1
obsoleteSynonym of succinctly (“briefly, concisely”).
- Very largely haue I inueighed againſt this vice [gluttony] elſvvhere, vvherefore heere I vvill truſſe it vp more ſurcinct;^([sic – meaning succinct]) […]
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。