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incisive

UK/ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/US/ɪnˈsaɪ.sɪv/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,267 of 15,258leans written

Incisive means cutting straight to the point with clear thought. An incisive question, incisive analysis, incisive and brief.

It is high praise for a mind and belongs to questions and analysis rather than to writing style. The Latin means cutting into, and the incisors at the front of the mouth are named from the same word.

Definitions of incisive

  1. 1adjectiveincisiveCutting straight to the point with clear thought.C1

    “His incisive analysis of the problem showed us exactly where we'd gone wrong.”

incisive is a quality.

Where it comes from

Medieval Latin incisivus comes from incidere, to cut into.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *kh₂eyd-

  2. Medieval Latin

    incīsīvus

  3. English, today

    incisive

Late Middle English - (in the sense cutting, penetrating), borrowed from Medieval Latin incīsīvus, from incīdō + -īvus. Compare Middle French incisif.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

incisive in the wild

  • Below, the two incisive canals typically converge medially.

    Incisive canals

  • The incisive foramen is situated within the incisive fossa of the maxilla.

    Incisive foramen

  • The incisive foramen exists in a variety of species.

    Incisive foramen

  • The incisive papilla is an oval midline mucosal prominence of the anterior hard palate overlying the incisive fossa.

    Incisive papilla

  • The incisive canal is typically found within the middle third of the mandible in an apico-coronal dimension, reaching the midline 18% of the time.

    Mandibular incisive canal

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.