What's the difference between terse and trenchant?

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.

Trenchant


Definition:

  • (v. t.) Fitted to trench or cut; gutting; sharp.
  • (v. t.) Fig.: Keen; biting; severe; as, trenchant wit.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The hostility Said encountered from pro-Israeli circles in New York was predictable, given his trenchant attacks on Israeli violations of the human rights of Palestinians and his outspoken condemnations of US policies in the Middle East.
  • (2) He went with a bang not a whimper: two of his last contributions to the New Republic were a trenchant critique of the history of the six-day war by Michael Oren, now Israeli ambassador to Washington, and an evisceration of Koba the Dread, Martin Amis's purported book on Stalin.
  • (3) Yet with growing numbers of civilian deaths and escalating violence, many British Syrians have become more trenchant in putting forward pro- or anti-regime views.
  • (4) This year she won plaudits from fellow peers and disability activists alike over a series of trenchant interventions on the controversial welfare reform bill .
  • (5) "If there is one thing that has been wrong with this World Cup it is Fifa’s ridiculous insistence that teams wear predominantly light or dark strips," begins Stewart Todd, before taking a deep breath and resuming his diatribe, utilising both the 'relentless' and 'trenchant' styles.
  • (6) Ruggie’s report was welcomed by Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation and a trenchant critic of the lack of progress by Qatar on the migrant workers issue.
  • (7) Jones told Turnbull that because he had had dinner with Palmer, a trenchant critic of Abbott, “people” were suggesting that “precisely because you have no hope ever of being the leader again – you have got that into your head, no hope ever – that because of that you are happy to chuck a few bombs around that might blow up Abbott a bit, that is what they are saying.” Turnbull replied that it was Jones who was undermining the Abbott government and “doing the work of the Labor party”, a charge not usually levelled at the Sydney announcer who is an ardent supporter of the prime minister.
  • (8) He was speaking to The Independent, which reports: Mr Fisher trenchantly defends those decisions made at the height of the crisis.
  • (9) That is not only because of McDonnell’s trenchant hard-left economic views, but also because of his combative approach.
  • (10) The White House, fearing the impact of a European disaster on Barack Obama's re-election campaign, is becoming more trenchant in its criticism of the eurozone and its demands of the Germans.
  • (11) Former centre-right president Nicolas Sarkozy was reported to have supplied his own trenchant critique, even as Brignoles voters were preparing to elect Lopez in the second round.
  • (12) The comments from Maria Hutchings, described by Lib Dems as a Sarah Palin figure for her trenchant views and tendency to speak off-message, provoked a storm of protest as political opponents and state-educated celebrities, said she had insulted state schools, including two local ones with glowing Ofsted reports.
  • (13) I don't for a minute accept the logic of reforms that put individuals in private debt to avoid public debt but even the most trenchant libertarian can find fault when those same reforms end up costing the Treasury more money.
  • (14) He chose to release a trenchantly-worded judgment, explaining why had made the initial ruling to keep the identity of the footballer secret, in which he concluded there was "ample reason not to trust" the young woman.
  • (15) For old hands at the negotiations, such as Yvo de Boer, a former Dutch civil servant and UN climate chief known for his trenchant views, the conferences have become trapped in an endless cycle of repeats.
  • (16) But Abbott’s trenchant opposition to the fund is seen as an impediment to any contribution.
  • (17) As a result, general inequality has been becoming more grievous with every year that passes, and without a bleat from the leaders of the party who once spoke up so trenchantly and characteristically for greater equality.
  • (18) Rival Palestinian groups have hailed the signing of a reconciliation agreement that could change the parameters of the search for Middle East peace, amid trenchant opposition from Israel.
  • (19) The faith-based failure to plan for the invasion’s aftermath, rightly damned in trenchant terms by Sir John, was the most catastrophic for the Iraqi people, and indeed for the British service personnel in harm’s way.
  • (20) He has been the most prominent of black British intellectuals since the 1960s, a prominent figure of the Open University and among the most trenchant critics of Thatcherism.