incisive
/ɪnˈsʌɪsɪv
/adjective
1(Of a person or mental process) intelligently analytical and clear-thinking: she was an incisive critic...
- He is always incisive and insightful, and understands Wagner's epic character almost as well as anyone.
- Perhaps he is more incisive on individually produced artefacts like paintings or buildings.
- He is incisive, can bowl for long periods, and keeps coming at the batsmen; for them the pressure seldom ceases.
Synonyms
penetrating, acute, sharp, sharp-witted, razor-sharp, keen, rapier-like, astute, shrewd, trenchant, piercing, perceptive, insightful, percipient, perspicacious, discerning, analytical, intelligent, canny, clever, smart, quick;
concise, succinct, pithy, to the point, crisp, clear
informal punchy, on the ball
North American informal heads-up
rare argute, sapient
1.1(Of an account) accurate and sharply focused: the songs offer incisive pictures of American ways...
- The pages brim with incisive descriptions and exquisite pictures of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Patagonia.
- His incisive account of the institutional experimentation with respect to cutting rights is informative.
- Might he be the focus of some incisive Hollywood docudrama?
2(Of an action) quick and direct: the most incisive move of a tight match...
- His favoured 3-4 - 3 formation may have to be adjusted slightly to accommodate the quick and incisive passing that enables Rangers to move up the park swiftly.
- Kendal managed to construct some incisive moves and penetrating attacks but they came to nothing.
- The discipline and tenacity of Porto's defence tonight, and their capacity for quick, incisive breaks, recalled Clough's Forest teams at their best.
Derivatives
incisively
/ adverb ...- But he does not allow himself to yield either to the past, or its falsifier, nostalgia, the ‘history’ of which mind-set he incisively anatomises.
- As he coolly, incisively probes away, his questions elicit fascinating personal revelations, generating feelings of anger, guilt, panic and emptiness.
- That's an important issue and one that strikes to the heart of why we train college students to think logically, research carefully and write incisively.
incisiveness
/ noun ...- For the benefit of those who have yet to experience the clarity, incisiveness, intelligence and above all space-filling qualities of his work, here are a few highlights.
- Your capacity for hard work, intellectual rigour and incisiveness is well-known throughout the profession and is something to which I can personally attest.
- As longtime readers know, his writing is marked by clarity, incisiveness, and charity, if not always respect, for opposing views.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'cutting, penetrating'): from medieval Latin incisivus, from Latin incidere 'cut into' (see incise).