Meaning & use
pithy remark
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A short comment that expresses a lot of meaning in very few words, often cleverly or forcefully.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a pithy remark or several pithy remarks.
Patterns
- make a pithy remark
- a pithy remark about something
- a pithy remark on something
She made a pithy remark about the meeting that summed up everyone's frustration.
"We came, we saw, we got bored" was his pithy remark after the long ceremony.
His pithy remark about the report was quoted in the newspaper the next day.
nouncountableapproving
A brief statement that gives a piece of wisdom or a strong opinion in a memorable way.
Grammar: Often used with verbs like offer, give, or make.
Patterns
- offer a pithy remark
- a pithy remark on life
The old teacher offered a pithy remark on hard work: "Small steps, every day."
Her pithy remark on friendship stayed with me for years.
Word forms
| plural | pithy remarks |
|---|
Common combinations
- make a pithy remark
- He made a pithy remark that ended the argument.
- a pithy remark about
- She made a pithy remark about the new policy.
- a pithy remark on
- The professor's pithy remark on success was quoted by many students.
- offer a pithy remark
- At the end of the speech, he offered a pithy remark about patience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- witty remark
- A witty remark is funny and clever; a pithy remark is mainly short and full of meaning, though it may also be clever.
- terse comment
- Terse describes something short and often unfriendly or abrupt; pithy suggests the shortness adds force or wisdom, not rudeness.
- aphorism
- An aphorism is a well-known general truth in a short sentence; a pithy remark is any short, meaningful comment, not necessarily a famous saying.
Opposites
Word family
- pithily adverb
- In a short but meaningful way.
- pithiness noun
- The quality of being short but full of meaning.
- pithy adjective
- Short, direct, and full of meaning.
Commonly confused: pithy remark or pithy fruit?
pithy remark vs pithy fruit
"Pithy" can describe fruit with a lot of white pith, but this is rare. In most contexts pithy means "short and full of meaning," so a pithy remark is a concise, meaningful comment.
Practice
Which sentence uses "pithy remark" correctly?
Choose one answer.
A pithy remark is a short comment full of meaning, so sentence B fits. A confuses the fruit sense of pithy with the language sense. C uses pithy as a verb, which it is not. D contradicts the meaning of pithy, which implies brevity, not length.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pithy remark”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.