If you describe someone as curt, you mean that they speak or reply in a brief and rather rude way. Her tone of voice was curt `The matter is closed,' was the curt reply. = abrupt, brusque + curtly curt·ly `I'm leaving,' she said curtly. using very few words in a way that seems rude (curtus )
brief and to the point; effectively cut short; "a crisp retort"; "a response so curt as to be almost rude"; "the laconic reply; `yes'"; "short and terse and easy to understand"
marked by rude or peremptory shortness; "try to cultivate a less brusque manner"; "a curt reply"; "the salesgirl was very short with him"
Characterized by excessive brevity; short; rudely concise; as, curt limits; a curt answer
born Feb. 20, 1894, Denver, Colo., U.S. died Dec. 21, 1988, Baltimore, Md. U.S. biologist. He received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He introduced the concept of the biological clock in a 1927 paper on animals' internal cycles (see biological rhythm). He theorized that ancient peoples' discovery of fire changed their habits, resulting in brain-structure changes that increased their ability to learn and communicate. He helped discover relationships between behaviour and biochemistry governing sleep, stress, and disease onset
born June 29, 1881, Berlin, Ger. died Feb. 5, 1959, New York, N.Y., U.S. German-born U.S. musicologist. He studied clarinet and composition as a teenager but earned a doctorate in art history. After working as an art critic, he returned to musicology, becoming one of the most significant scholars of that field, especially in the systematic study of musical instruments (working with Erich von Hornbostel). After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he wrote important textbooks and surveys and supervised the growth of the discipline, lecturing at such institutions as Columbia University and New York University
in a curt, abrupt and discourteous manner; "he told me curtly to get on with it"; "he talked short with everyone"; "he said shortly that he didn't like it"