Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Laconic \La*con"ic\, Laconical \La*con"ic*al\, a. [L. Laconicus
Laconian, Gr. ??, fr. ?? a Laconian, Laced[ae]monian, or
Spartan: cf. F. laconique.]
1. Expressing much in few words, after the manner of the
Laconians or Spartans; brief and pithy; brusque;
epigrammatic. In this sense laconic is the usual form.
I grow laconic even beyond laconicism; for sometimes
I return only yes, or no, to questionary or
petitionary epistles of half a yard long. --Pope.
His sense was strong and his style laconic.
--Welwood.
2. Laconian; characteristic of, or like, the Spartans; hence,
stern or severe; cruel; unflinching.
His head had now felt the razor, his back the rod;
all that laconical discipline pleased him well.
--Bp. Hall.
Syn: Short; brief; concise; succinct; sententious; pointed;
pithy.
Usage: {Laconic}, {Concise}. Concise means without irrelevant
or superfluous matter; it is the opposite of diffuse.
Laconic means concise with the additional quality of
pithiness, sometimes of brusqueness.
Laconical \La*con"ic*al\, a.
See {Laconic}, a.