What's the difference between tense and terse?

Tense


Definition:

  • (n.) One of the forms which a verb takes by inflection or by adding auxiliary words, so as to indicate the time of the action or event signified; the modification which verbs undergo for the indication of time.
  • (a.) Stretched tightly; strained to stiffness; rigid; not lax; as, a tense fiber.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The poll – which sets the stage for a tense and dramatic run to referendum day – suggests that, among the undecideds, more are inclined to vote Remain than Leave.
  • (2) Two officers who witnessed the shooting of unarmed 43-year-old Samuel DuBose in Cincinnati will not face criminal charges, despite seemingly corroborating a false claim that DuBose’s vehicle dragged officer Ray Tensing before he was fatally shot.
  • (3) Bostock, who is long thought to have had a tense relationship with chief executive Marc Bolland , is departing by "mutual consent to pursue other interests" on 1 October, when she will also leave the M&S board.
  • (4) After five days watching birds illegally shot down and becoming embroiled in tense stand-offs with the police and hunters, Packham was summoned to a police station and interviewed for five hours.
  • (5) Although excessive eye movements caused 30% of the subjects to be removed from the analysis, it was still possible after the experiment to differentiate between subjects who gradually tensed their agonist during the foreperiod and subjects who did not.
  • (6) Peroneal nerve traction does not result in abnormalities of the dorsalis pedis pulse, pain on passive muscle stretch or a tense anterior tibial compartment.
  • (7) Security North Korea has a long history of tense relations with other regional powers and the west – particularly since it began its nuclear programme.
  • (8) A health committee meeting in Sacramento, the state capital, on Wednesday turned into a tense showdown between lawmakers seeking to argue that the science is unequivocally on the side of universal vaccination, and activists accusing them of being in the pocket of unscrupulous big pharmaceutical companies.
  • (9) However its depth and tense, cystic feeling on palpation, were considered somewhat unusual.
  • (10) It was found, contrary to expectation, that the prevalence was 2.96% and preponderant symptoms seemed to be worrisome, tense, irritable and depressive.
  • (11) 7:23pm: Out trudge the players, looking tense - perhaps because of the stakes of the match, or maybe because of all the formalities Fifa make them endure before kick-off.
  • (12) The categories used for the auditory assessment were preutterance vocalizations, abnormal initiation, rough voice, breathy voice, tense voice, voice tremor, intraphonemic disruption and pitch break.
  • (13) It was very tense, they were very angry, but we tried to be respectful, while explaining that I was doing my job taking photos.
  • (14) While arguments will persist over the rights and wrongs of publishing, what seems certain is that the incident will inflame already tense relations between Buckingham Palace and the European media.
  • (15) China and the Philippines had a tense maritime standoff at a shoal west of the main Philippine island of Luzon early this year.
  • (16) Tense scenes followed on Sunday as a large crowd gathered in the town of Bastia, about 12 miles (19km) away, seeking to enter the Lupino district, which is home to a large North African community.
  • (17) Men arrested for the first time for driving while intoxicated were more tense, depressed, angry and fatigued during the month preceding their arrest than were men arrested for the second time for the same offense.
  • (18) The protest grew after several hundred people left a rally opposing the election of Donald Trump as president and joined with others chanting: “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Earlier this year the University of Cincinnati, which fired Tensing shortly after the incident, reached a $5.3m settlement with DuBose’s family .
  • (19) The scope and numbers of Anaconda are no match for the Russian exercises that go on all the time just across the border.” War game map But Zaborowski also acknowledged that the backdrop to the exercise was “tense, and accidents can happen”.
  • (20) Lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP) was measured in 10 biopsy-proved cirrhotics with esophageal varices and tense ascites before and after diuresis to evaluate of ascites might play in the development of variceal bleeding.

Terse


Definition:

  • (superl.) Appearing as if rubbed or wiped off; rubbed; smooth; polished.
  • (superl.) Refined; accomplished; -- said of persons.
  • (superl.) Elegantly concise; free of superfluous words; polished to smoothness; as, terse language; a terse style.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The lossmaking chain of supermarkets, funeral homes and pharmacies said in a terse two-line statement that Stuart Ramsay had left the board with immediate effect after "an independent report, and at the request of the board".
  • (2) He replied tersely: “Di María is a fine player but we would still have won that game.” Martino called his winger “one of the five best players in the world” and said his country had missed him sorely in the final.
  • (3) A humiliated Trierweiler was publicly ditched by Hollande in a terse 18-word statement announcing that he was “putting an end” to their “shared life”.
  • (4) In a terse statement the New IRA said Kearney was shot after the group carried out "an investigation".
  • (5) "I think the figures are somewhat overstated in this country," he says tersely, "as it's generally the same three scientists making their voices heard.
  • (6) There is a significant gap between the plans of the Greek authorities and requirements of the commission, ECB and IMF European commission statement In a tersely worded statement, the European commission declared talks would resume when euro area finance ministers gather in Luxembourg on Thursday.
  • (7) Manchester United manager Ed Woodward is reported to have sent Chelsea a "terse" letter, warning them to cease and desist in their efforts to sign Wayne Rooney .
  • (8) Fielding questions from journalists after the game, Altidore opened with a terse stock defense, stating: "It doesn’t matter how I play as long as we win".
  • (9) A senior government official was more terse: "We don't want to see China patrolling the East and South China seas as though they think they own them."
  • (10) Terry, meanwhile, issued a terse statement in response.
  • (11) From the plague's ominous annunciation, the first dead rat, rotting on the turn of the stair in the protagonist's apartment block, to the end of the first act and the prefect's terse command, "close the town", plot fits meaning with tailored perfection.
  • (12) "They have cattle and now they have one of my boys," he wrote in a terse press release.
  • (13) In answers that ranged from terse monosyllables to rambling monologues, Cayne said he wished the Securities and Exchange Commission had looked into the way rumours about Bear were spread: "Regardless of whether there was a conspiracy or not, the bottom line is the firm came under attack."
  • (14) Head coach Doc Rivers has responded to the possibility with a very terse "it's stupid".
  • (15) Additionally, while the answers were terse, the immediacy and intimacy of the president's responses offered a glimpse into his mind that might never have been exposed so starkly in more formal circumstances.
  • (16) Dan Ashworth, David Gill and I have carried out a thorough process in the last three weeks and ultimately we could not look beyond Sam as the ideal candidate.” Allardyce performed a minor miracle to save Sunderland from relegation after succeeding Dick Advocaat last October but, in a terse statement which will interpreted as churlish, the Wearside club failed to reference his contribution, let alone thank him or offer their good wishes.
  • (17) Westminster slumbers in recess, voters are on holiday or reeling from the latesthorrors of Isis – and Nick Clegg tersely announces Lord Rennard has been reinstated as a party member , all disciplinary action miraculously evaporated.
  • (18) "There is no truth to these baseless allegations," Egypt's foreign ministry said in a terse statement on Sunday.
  • (19) This time the drone attack was successful , from the US perspective, and al-Shabaab issued a terse statement: "The martyr received what he wished for and what he went out for."
  • (20) As for that last line, millions of voices cried out with “duh” and went back to exhaling tersely through their noses.